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The Prom's Same-Sex Kiss Makes History at Macy's Thanksgiving Parade
The Prom's Same-Sex Kiss Makes History at Macy's Thanksgiving Parade
The kiss between The Prom's Emma and her girlfriend Alyssa at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade stole the show.
Amid the giant balloon animals and the marching bands, the cast of the new Broadway musical The Prom made history when they ended their Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade performance with the parade's first-ever same-sex kiss.
The musical, directed by Casey Nicholaw and culled from real-life stories of LGBTQ kids banned from taking the person of their choice to prom, stars Caitlin Kinnunen as Emma, a lesbian teen in a small Indiana town. Rather than allow Emma to take her girlfriend Alyssa (Isabelle McCalla) to prom, the PTA opts to cancel the teen rite of passage entirely. Eventually, a group of theater people (because of course) discover Emma's plight and offer to help pull off a prom.
The big number "Build a Prom," which the cast performed for the millions watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, closes with Emma and Alyssa kissing.
"Broadway's The Prom is grateful to Macy's and NBC for their acceptance and inclusivity of a community and a story that is about acceptance, tolerance and love," The Prom's producers Bill Damaschke, Dori Berinstein, and Jack Lane told Entertainment Weekly in a joint statement. "These are some of the themes reflected in our musical comedy and we are very proud to be the very first LGBTQ kiss on the Thanksgiving Day Parade."
Cast member Josh Lamon tweeted his excitement over the benchmark moment.
The kiss was met with some backlash from homophobes on social media, but the show's message of love resonated for many on Twitter.
Watch the performance below.
