Prom Night Fever

For many teen-agers, the prom is one of those make-or-break experiences, like getting drunk for the first time or finally having sex. For most high schoolers, to go or not to go is the question. For others, like one cynical lad in Hali Lee and Peter von Zeigesar‘s terrific documentary Prom Night in Kansas City, the ritual represents “all that’s evil about high school.”

Collectively, prom nights in the United States have turned into a billion-dollar industry. Former Kansas Citians Lee and von Zeigesar (they now live in New York) shot 100 hours of prom footage in the Kansas City area during 2000. Ultimately, they settled on four events and wove them together in the film. Two are traditional proms at Shawnee Mission North and Westport High. But they also paid a visit to the conservative Center Place Restoration School in Independence, which holds a senior banquet at which no dancing is allowed and girls’ dresses must pass decency guidelines. Finally there’s a prom for Kansas City’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth (sponsored by Passages) where the titles of prom king and queen get beautifully blurry.

“Peter and I love Kansas City and wanted to show people on the coasts that it’s a place that’s not hokey or homogeneous,” Lee says. “It’s a diverse, boisterous city, and I think the film shows that.” Lee adds that documentary-friendly HBO gave favorable reviews to Prom Night but ultimately turned it down. The film will, however, air on the Trio cable network in late April and in May.

Among Prom Night‘s most colorful characters are Oliver, a wry North senior whose date is his digital camera; Nick, a CPRS student who slipped up in his early teens and has a son; and Gayla, a self-described “butch” who, even in her snazzy tux and buzz cut, worries that her date won’t like how she looks. Some things never change.