Just barely south of Albuquerque’s historic Old Town is another piece of history not often mentioned: The Albuquerque Little Theatre. Founded in 1930 by a group of citizens, this theater was led by Irene Fisher and Kathryn Kennedy O’Conner. It started in KiMo Theatre, before moving to its current location at 224 San Pasquale Avenue. I was given the opportunity to volunteer for them as a part of their backstage crew for five weeks in their collaborative production of The Prom by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin with Devon Frieder Productions.
Although this show wouldn’t have been possible without the Albuquerque LittleTheatre, it all started with Devon Frieder’s own dream. She strived to perform this show and bring this production to Albuquerque, and she did. She brought it to life with the cast, sets, props, music, lighting, and so much more. You never realize how much goes into such an amazing show until you’re really there watching it happen. Devon Frieder Productions and ALT, along with the help of an amazing cast on stage and amazing crew backstage built a prom that was “more than I dared wish for.”
The Prom follows five people from Broadway, who are forced to close their new show on opening night and need to find a way to make themselves seem less narcissistic. In their journey of finding a small issue to help fix that would give them good press, they find a girl with the perfect situation. Emma Nolan is a highschooler living in Edgewater, Indiana. She wants to take her girlfriend to the prom, but her school won’t allow her to. So, to avoid legal issues, the PTA cancels the prom for everyone. The five Broadway stars travel to Indiana to “bring light to this issue,” without facing their true intentions at first. Their ruckus, along with help from the Indiana state attorney, cause the cancellation to be legally seen as a civil rights issue, and so the prom is back on!
Unfortunately, Emma and the stars find out they’ve been played; the PTA plans two proms, a “normal” one for the rest of the student body, and one for Emma. Emma’s is completely empty. It causes the Broadway people to confront their own narcissistic intentions and Emma’s classmates to accept that Emma and her girlfriend, Alyssa, are who they are.
I had the honor of being both a props assistant and the handler of Kira Luna Frieder (Devon’s adorable show chihuahua). This show was a part of Albuquerque Little Theatre’s sponsored teaching program, a collaboration between both companies to help uplift pre-professional and professional actors alike. Devon, who has acted in countless productions all over the country with a long resume of amazing roles, was one of the nicest people I will ever work with. I will be glad if I have the chance to be in the crew in the next Devon Frieder Production show. In the photo gallery in this article, there is a combination of photos professionally taken in-house and photos I took from the wings backstage.
The Prom is a story about being yourself no matter what people say, and accepting others for who they are. Although it’s now closed after an amazing three weekends of running, there are many shows left in this season of Albuquerque Little Theatre, and there’s still time to get tickets for all of them. I’d recommend seeing Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which runs from June 6th to June 22nd. Albuquerque Little Theatre is a nonprofit organization and they’re able to continue to put on amazing shows thanks to donations, so if you’re interested in donating or buying tickets to any of their next shows, their website is https://albuquerquelittletheatre.org/.
