Netflix is handing out casting corsages: Meryl Streep, Ariana Grande, Nicole Kidman, Awkwafina, James Corden and Andrew Rannells will headline the streaming giant’s film adaptation of Broadway’s “The Prom.”
Streep is set to assume the lead role of Dee Dee Allen, allowing her to utter the show-stopping line, “How do you silence a woman who can belt?”
The grand dame’s supporting cast includes “The Late Late Show” host Corden as wannabe prom queen Barry Glickman, Kidman as high-kicking Angie, Rannells as Trent Oliver (an actor who went to Juilliard and won’t let you forget it), Grande as Alyssa Greene, Keegan-Michael Key as Principal Hawkins and “Crazy Rich Asians” breakout star Awkwafina as Ms. Sheldon.
A nationwide search is underway to fill the leading role of Emma, a lesbian teen who’s banned from her high school prom in ultra-conservative Edgewater, Ind.
Ryan Murphy (“American Horror Story,” “Glee”) is on tap to direct the film, as in April when he bought out Broadway’s Longacre Theater for a VIP benefit performance of the musical.
“I was not allowed to take my boyfriend to my senior prom,” Murphy said at the time. “I protested by wearing six-inch yellow platform heels to the afterparty.”
Murphy is producing with Emmy winner Alexis Martin Woodall and stage producers Dori Berinstein and Bill Damaschke. Book writers Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin wrote the film’s script, which will feature the original lyrics by Beguelin and music by Matthew Sklar.
Murphy is co-producing the soundtrack with diminutive pop diva Grande and the power🃏 manager she shares with Justin Bieber, Scooter Braun.
Filming is set to launch in December, with a tentative theatrical release set for the fall of 2020. “The Prom,” which was nominated for six Tony Awards including best musical, will end its Broadway run Aug. 11.