Television mogul and Broadway producer Ryan Murphy will host a special benefit performance of Broadway’s The Prom April 9. Proceeds will go to the Hetrick-Martin Institute, GLAAD, and The Trevor Project.
A fervent activist and voice for the LGBTQ+ community and their stories, Murphy was moved to host the event after seeing a recent performance of the musical, about an Indiana teen banned from her high school prom (after wanting to attend with her girlfriend) and the Broadway eccentrics who bombard the Midwest town in support of her cause.
Murphy produced this season’s star-studded production of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band, featuring Jim Parson, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin De Jesús, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Tuc Watkins. The 2016 Tony-nominated revival of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, starring Murphy favorite Jessica Lange, was produced in association with him at Roundabout Theatre Company.
Despite his theatrical endeavors and musical proclivities, Murphy is most known for his work on the small screen as the Emmy-winning creator of anthology series American Crime Story and American Horror Story, as well as Pose, Feud, and Glee. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie for his adaptation of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart.
As part of his new deal with Netflix, he is at work on a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest-inspired series with Sarah Paulson and Cynthia Nixon, the comedy The Politician with Lange and Dear Evan Hansen's Ben Platt, and a show focusing on the Golden Age of Hollywood.
The Prom, which opened November 15, 2018, is directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw with a book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, music by Matthew Sklar, and lyrics by Beguelin. The original musical stars Tony winner Beth Leavel, Brooks Ashmanskas, Christopher Sieber, Angie Schworer, Josh Lamon, Caitlin Kinnunen, Isabelle McCalla, Michael Potts, and Courtenay Collins.
