Broadway’s The Prom is ending with a Happily Ever After, thanks to a blissful surprise.
The Prom is a musical that arrived on Broadway in October of 2018. The show follows four Broadway performers as they travel to a conservative town after hearing of a lesbian student who’s not allowed to take her girlfriend to their high school prom. The group of actors then try to help the teen couple (though partly for the good press).
The Prom was celebrated in New York and got nominated for seven Tony Awards this past season. In addition, Ryan Murphy is working on a Netflix film adaptation starring James Corden, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Awkwafina. But unfortunately, the show’s run on Broadway is coming to an end. The Prom is scheduled to close at the Longacre Theatre on August 11. But just before having their last dance, the cast and crew decided to honor one of their own with a makeshift wedding.
This past Saturday night, the show went on as usual. But, after the curtain call, the audience were given a surprise. The show’s script coordinator, Armelle Kay Harper, married actress Jody Kay Smith on the stage.
The on-stage ceremony was officiated by the play’s co-writer Bob Martin, who got ordained online for the moment. “You have to help me through this, I’m very nervous” Martin told the couple. “You have the easy part.”
The couple then shared their vows, which were written by Harper. In the vows, the couple recited their desire to live out the rest of their lives together.
“I promise to honor and care for you, to cherish and encourage you and to love you completely you through all experiences of our lives.”
According to Newsweek, the couple met on the dating app Bumble in 2017. They decided to meet in person after chatting for only 20 minutes. They then got engaged just three weeks after that meeting (with Smith proposing at the famous West Village piano bar Marie’s Crisis).
“We’re both really witty people, and it’s hard to find someone who can keep up,” Harper told the New York Times. “But she really got me, and she made me laugh. Plus those blue eyes. What can you do? Gorgeous.”
“They’re almost like an old married couple already, and they’re not old,” said maid of honor Haley Tynes.
And it seems that the cast and crew of The Prom have been supporting the couple every step of the way. While Harper’s family members shunned her after sending out the save-the-date notices in February, it was the cast and crew of the musical that supported the marriage and wedding the most.
But while this makeshift wedding was more special than the couple could have hoped for, it won’t be the only one. Harper and Smith plan to have a more formal wedding next month before flying off to Puerto Rico for their honeymoon.
Sources: Newsweek, The New York Times
