Ten years after Glee captivated TV audiences, creator Ryan Murphy has announced he’s stepping back into the musical arena with a Netflix adaptation of the Broadway hit The Prom, about an Indiana lesbian teen whose high school prom is canceled after she asks a girl to be her date.
The producer of Pose and American Horror Story made the announcement Tuesday at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre (home to the Prom) during a benefit performance for the Hetrick Martin Institute, GLAAD, the Trevor Project, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
"I'm really tired of hearing about bad news and [Donald] Trump. I want to see entertainment that is optimistic and uplifting,” Murphy told the crowd that included Janet Mock, Sarah Jessica Parker, Billy Porter, Gus Kenworthy, and many more.
Murphy, who saw the musical for the first time in December said, "I cried at the end from pure joy, which has not happened to me since Patti LuPone was the flower girl at my wedding."
"LGBTQ rights are human rights,” Murphy said was the ultimate message of the show that moved him.
"I wish this show was around when I was a kid," Murphy said. Like the lead character of the Prom, he grew up in Indiana (where Mike Pence was governor just a few years ago) and was banned from taking a same-sex date to the event.
"I protested by wearing six-inch yellow platform boots,” Murphy said.
The Prom made waves across the entire country in November at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade when the cast performed the production number “Build a Prom,” which features several same-sex dancing couples and closes with a kiss between teen girls. It was the first-ever same-sex kiss to air during the long history of the parade.
The Prom on Netflix is the latest in Murphy’s promise to bring a slate of LGBTQ-themed entertainment to the streaming service. He’s currently working on The Politician with Ben Platt and Ratched with Sarah Paulson.
Hailed as a “Netflix movie event,” the Prom is set for a Sept. 2020 release, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade performance of "Build a Prom" below.
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