In Theatre Under the Stars' The Prom, Anna Pontin draws on her own high-school experience
The musical comedy’s lead knows firsthand the bravery it takes to come out as a teen
Theatre Under the Stars’ The Prom, with Brianna Clark, Caitriona Murphy, Greg Armstrong-Morris, and Anna Pontin. Photo by Emily Cooper
Theatre Under the Stars presents The Prom at Malkin Bowl to August 25
ANNA PONTIN is finally able to wear a tux to the prom—albeit a few years after her own high school graduation.
There are many parallels between the UBC student’s own trajectory and that of Emma Nolan, the character she plays in Theatre Under the Stars’ The Prom this summer at Stanley Park’s outdoor Malkin Bowl. In the show, Emma has to fight to bring her girlfriend to grad night, pulling out a powder-blue suit and bowtie for the occasion.
Pontin relates of her own graduation in her hometown of Yellowknife: “At my high school we didn’t have a prom, really; it was the COVID year and we had an outdoor ceremony. I wanted to wear a tux, but I chickened out and wore a green dress. So I finally get to wear what I wanted!”
Luckily, Pontin was welcomed with open arms to her grad. But The Prom tells the story of a small-town Indiana teenager whose high school won’t allow her to come to the prom with a girl (Brianna Clark)—thanks largely to a homophobic PTA. Four vain Broadway actors on a mission to revive their careers swoop in to try to take up her cause and give her the prom she deserves. Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin based the musical on the true experience of Constance McMillen in Mississippi.
That all hits home with Pontin.
“I was queer in high school and I came out when I was in Grade 10,” she tells Stir. “I was really lucky, because Yellowknife is really progressive and has a vibrant queer community. But at high school there weren't a lot of gay students or queer girls. I definitely relate that it's hard to deviate from the norm when you're 15 and you just want to fit in.
“In the beginning of the rehearsal process I felt a lot of unexpected emotions come up revisiting my high school self,” she adds, reflecting: “I wasn’t as comfortable at 16 or 17 as I am now. So I’ve been looking back with more compassion and celebrating being a teenager. Emma was so much braver than I was, or than a lot of people are. Coming out of the closet is not just one and done; it’s just hard. You just have to announce to people that you’re different, and that requires a lot of bravery.”
Photo by Emily Cooper
That connection to the character presumably came through when Pontin decided to audition for the show—mostly just for fun. Though she trained in singing and musical theatre back in the Northwest Territories, she actually headed to Vancouver to become an honours English major at UBC. A friend convinced her to try out for The Prom, and she agreed mostly because she had such fond memories of Theatre Under the Stars.
“I have a lot of extended family in Vancouver and I went to TUTS a lot as a kid,” she recalls and then adds with a laugh: “I thought it was one of the most fancy, glamorous things!”
For that audition, Pontin says she found herself immediately connecting to Emma, talking herself through the stressful situation in much the same way the character does in her solo “Just Breathe”: “Just breathe, Emma/It wouldn't be high school without a test/Just close your eyes and count to ten/Go to your happy place, and then/Try not to combust…”
Needless to say Pontin, who also just happens to possess a beautiful, clarion-clear singing voice, nailed the role.
The actor has been loving preparing the comedy with an ensemble cast that includes acting veterans like Caitriona Murphy and Greg Armstrong-Morris as the pair of Broadway has-beens looking to latch onto a cause (and learning their own lessons along the way).
However, there was one area of the performance that made her a bit nervous: the choreography, a huge highlight of this production, directed by dance maven Tracey Power.
“I have no dance background whatsoever,” the ever-modest Pontin says. “But I'm a fast learner and a hard worker. Tracey’s been incorporating a lot of Fosse-style choreography, and she took all the things I would be nervous about and made them fun.”
Perhaps the biggest reward Pontin is getting out of taking on The Prom is the message of solidarity at a time when hate and homophobia are flaring up online and out in the world.
“It’s important to celebrate the joy and remember what we’re fighting for,” she says. “That’s been really present in rehearsals. It’s not just this flat message of pride, it’s super-nuanced.”
It’s a role the teenage, green-dress-sporting Anna would have loved: “If I could just tell my younger self, she would totally freak out,” Pontin says.
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