Special to the Gazette
What’s with the posters on Centre Street?
They’re hard to miss. Five by three-foot fashion photos featuring apparel from Jamaica Plain retailers as modeled by the Footlight Club’s “The Prom” cast, marking a unique collaboration between J.P. businesses and America’s Oldest Community Theatre.
The idea began back in the fall of 2024.
Jim Ansart, long time J.P. resident and Footlight Club friend for over 40 years had just agreed to produce the theatre’s production of the musical “The Prom.”
For those who might not know, “The Prom” is about Emma, a high school girl from rural Indiana who is banned from attending her senior prom because she wants to take another girl as her date. When a couple of popularity challenged Broadway performers descend upon Emma’s town to take her on as their personal cause, mayhem ensues.
As producer, Ansart would handle recruiting a crew, managing the budget and helping to ensure the show’s financial success.
“I was walking down Centre St. thinking about costumes. I was imagining which of the characters might shop in what stores. It then occurred to me that if we could have cast members “in character” modeling clothing and accessories from these stores, we could publicize our show and support the J.P. retail community,” said Ansart
Ansart then sent an email to Matthew McKee Photography. Matt McKee has been the Footlight Club’s resident photographer for years, in addition to operating his own Corporate Photography Business. Matt was intrigued. “Jim came up with this awesome idea to partner up with the local business community for some cross promotion for the show,” said Matthew McKee.
“That really resonated with me since the idea of prom, the event, is one of those coming of age, mythic milestones in American culture. I wanted to make sure that they really popped. We kept the color scheme from the show’s branding and worked with the actors to bring the show’s excitement and energy to the images,” said McKee.
The stores, as well as the cast, were quickly on board to be part of the shoot.
Dee Dee, one of our Broadway Stars went to Susanna. Emma and the other high school girls chose their outfits at On Centre.
Brittany went to Goodwill. Trent and Angie’s costumes came from there as well. George’s Shoes provided footwear, hats were from Salmagundi and corsages came from Sweet Pea and Sage. Even American Dry Cleaning into one of the photos!
Businesses that didn’t contribute to the photos were happy to display the results. Before long, big beautiful “Prom” posters were popping up in store windows everywhere, a testament to our generous and fun-loving community. Everybody is going to “The Prom,” are you?
“The Prom” runs at The Footlight Club, 7A Eliot St. through May 17. www.footlight.org.