Thank God we made it out of that sauna of a before-party alive. Fortunately, the hour long bus ride did not seem that long. Highway after highway, our bus zoomed out of anywhere I knew. Questioning where we were, I looked out the window to see a sign telling us our location: Horsham.
“Horsham? That sounds like a place you hear about in car commercials on the radio,” I heard somebody say. We were off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of prom.
We drove in between the fenced in areas and arrived. I saw a groundhog scurry away from the road and into the woods. I saw a water tower and train tracks. We hopped off the bus and headed for the main entrance to The Fuge. After checking in we headed up to the second level and got in line. We approached and proceeded through the line of teachers, each with their right hand protruding out, ready for a shake. Lights flashing, music blasting, kids socializing, we entered what was predicted to be the most memorable night of our lives.
I had an overall positive view of Malvern Prom this year. Some kids agreed and some kids didn’t. Many critiqued every little part of the night. Most critiques I heard were regarding the food, the music, and the temperature. It was a rarity to find somebody who enjoyed the crab cakes with mac and cheese, the spring rolls, or the fruit and pudding. I heard that the music choice could have been better and that it was sweltering and sweaty. Good thing that there was an outdoor portion of the venue where overheated dancers could catch a breath of fresh air and a bit of a wind chill.
The location was very far away, I had never even heard of Warminster before. But the venue was spectacular. The website for The Fuge states that it is “the most unique venue anywhere,” and I’m not sure if I could have stated it any better. The first thing I noticed in the huge circular room was a large metallic sphere, near the ceiling, attached to the center of the room. I soon learned that I was looking at a centrifuge. “A centrifuge is a machine that swings a capsule or “gondola” around in a circle on the end of a long arm. The purpose is to simulate gravitational forces, or “Gs”, on a test subject.” We were in an old US Navy development laboratory and we were sitting under “the largest and most powerful human centrifuge that the world has ever seen.”
“I thought it was really hot, and the DJ’s song choices could have been a lot better. Also the venue wasn’t right for prom. But it was still pretty fun,” noted Matt Anthony ’14. And after telling me how “fresh” he looked in his tuxedo, Chad Rafferty ’13 noted, “I thought it was a cool venue and I had fun dancing. The food was subpar and it was really hot but overall was a good time.”
Although there were some minor flaws to the night, I do not believe it was egregious. I know that I am speaking for the majority of students when I say that I had a great time at my first Malvern Prom. I am looking forward to Malvern Prom 2014. See you there!
Featured Photo by Mr. Robert Colameco
