Low male voice repertoire in contemporary musical theatre: a studio and performance guide of selected songs 1996-2020 by

Musical 
Music Lyrics 
Range 
Tessitura 
The Prom (2018) 
Matthew Sklar 
Chad Beguelin 
B
♭
2
– F#
4
mm. 1-12 - ML 
mm. 13-48– MH 
mm. 49-68 - H 
mm. 93-128 - H
Musical Theatre Style 
Song Type/Feel 
Tempo 
Pop 
Up-tempo, Samba 
108bpm, felt in 2 
Vocalism 
Breathy 
Speech-like Character 
Belt 
Legit 
Operatic 
Sources: Data adapted from Brook Ashmanskas, “Barry is Going to Prom,” track 14 on The Prom (Original 
Broadway Cast Recording), Sony Music Entertainment, 2018, Amazon Music streaming audio, 
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B07JFM6RBN?trackAsin=B07JG67D2J&ref=dm_sh_9ac1-1776-dmcp-68f8-
5999f&musicTerritory=US&marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER; Matthew Sklar, “Barry is Going to Prom,” in The 
Prom: Vocal Selections from Broadway’s New Musical Comedy (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard, 2019): 97-104. 
Plot 
Following the flop of their Eleanor Roosevelt musical, co-stars Dee Dee and Barry are desperate 
to find a way to restore their reputations. They find a cause to champion (and to gain press from) in 
Emma, a high school student whose prom was cancelled when she wanted to bring her closeted girlfriend, 
Alyssa, to the dance. When the actors first arrive to picket and support Emma, they actually cause more 
embarrassment than good. Emma has the hometown support of the empathetic principal, Mr. Hawkins, 
and they manage to legally challenge the cancellation, earning Emma the right to attend the school prom.
It turns out this dance is a ruse, as the PTA (lead by Alyssa’s prejudiced mother, Mrs. Greene) has hosted 
another prom in town that all the students attend instead. The humiliated Emma is encouraged by the 
actors to take a stand publicly to share this last injustice.
12
When they book her a TV show however, she 
turns down their aid and instead shares an original song through the internet; sharing her heart and 
12
Amanda Prahl, “It’s Time to Dance! This Is What Neflix’s The Prom Will Be About,” Popsugar, July 
17, 2019, accessed August, 21, 2020, https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/What-Prom-Musical-About-
46369582. 

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88 
gaining her support around the world. The actors and principal pool their resources to put on one final 
prom, and the same students who bullied Emma apologize and join in a celebration.
13
Character 
Barry Glickman is a gay, very flamboyant Broadway star who is completely in the dark about his 
tendencies to be politically incorrect. He is quite impulsive and loves to steal the spotlight, at times to a 
narcissistic degree. The original casting call was looking for a “big, Broadway belter” of any ethnicity, 
between the ages of 30 and 60.
14
The character himself is presumed to be around forty-seven based on 
the song lyrics of “Barry is Going to Prom.”
15
Context 
This song functions as the 11 o’clock number of the show; Emma has just asked him to prom and 
Barry reflects upon his adolescent pain and anticipates his glorious future evening. Ashmanskas states 
“like all great songs, it achieves many different things at once; joy, regret, elation, sadness, hilarity.”
16