Ariana DeBose to Play Alyssa in The Prom Movie

According to Deadline, Tony nominee Ariana DeBose (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical) will join the cast of Ryan Murphy's Netflix film adaptation of The Prom, taking over the role of Alyssa Greene that was originally to be played by Ariana Grande. Isabelle McCalla originated the role on Broadway.

DeBose joins a starry cast that includes Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington, Awkwafina, James Corden, Keegan-Michael Key, and Andrew Rannells. She is an alum of So You Think You Can Dance, an original cast member of Broadway's Hamilton, and will be featured as Anita in Steven Spielberg's upcoming remake of West Side Story.

The Prom, which ran from October 23, 2018-August 11, 2019 at the Longacre Theatre, featured music by Matthew Sklar, a book by Chad Beguelin, and Bob Martin, lyrics by Beguelin, and direction by Casey Nicholaw. The Broadway cast was led by Brooks Ashmanskas, Beth Leavel, Christopher Sieber, Caitlin Kinnunen, Isabelle McCalla, Michael Potts, Angie Schworer, Courtenay Collins, and Josh Lamon.

The story is described as follows: "Emma becomes an instant outcast, and a national headline, when her high school cancels the prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend. Sensing a chance to correct an injustice, and maybe get some good publicity along the way, a group of fading celebrities takes up the cause, and invades Emma's small Indiana town. But their bumbling attempts at social activism make the situation far worse than they, or Emma, could have ever imagined."