Synopsis: Drama teacher at a Newport Beach high school says the principal shut down his production of 'Rent' because of its gay characters. District officials say the principal only asked to read the script.
Rent centers around several diverse characters. The two main characters, Mark and Roger, are the archetypal bohemians. Roger is a young, struggling musician/songwriter trying to write one glorious song before AIDS claims his life. His roommate, Mark, is a film artist searching for opportunities to practice his art. Having no steady jobs and no idea how to obtain the next rent payment, they parallel the bohemians of Paris: they abandon the pursuit of comfort and financial security and focus fully on their art.While reading this interesting article, I was surprised to learn the drama teacher at the Newport Beach school stated the principal told him to cancel the show because she disapproved of the gay characters in the musical. Fal Asrani, the school's principal, disputes that she pulled the plug on the production, saying that she only asked to review the script, according to district officials.
But Ron Martin (drama teacher) said he chose "Rent," the story of artists struggling in New York City, for the spring musical because he hoped it would be a vehicle for teaching tolerance after overhearing students using homosexual slurs.
He openly states -- "My responsibility as a drama teacher is to expose my students to a variety of different types of plays," Martin said. At a recent meeting with Martin and a union representative, Asrani shut down the plans for "Rent," saying that she needed to review the script because of "prostitution and homosexuality," Martin said, adding that there is no prostitution in the musical.
To learn/read more about this issue -- Please visit: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/18/local/me-gay-play18
After reading this article, I can honestly say that I was shocked that this play was even an issue let alone canceled. Although, I have not personally watched the movie or play titled “Rent”, I think it’s truly unfair that this production was “shut-down” because it dealt with homosexual characters. I personally feel in today’s world homosexuality is a way of life and if the play “Rent” can educate students about this way of life -- than so be it. I personally do not agree with the principal’s decision to cancel this program, because students have the right to be informed about the different ways of life, and as stated in the article I too feel this play could be a “vehicle for teaching tolerance after overhearing students using homosexual slurs”. I think educating/informing students is the key to creating a society and a student body that being homosexual should not define who you are as a human being.
Food for thought:
What are your personal thoughts or opinions about this article?
Do you feel the principal made the right decision to ban this play/musical?
3 comments:
Ok- I will admit I have seen the play Rent about 7 times. I love it. And my parents bought me the Rent soundtrack when I was in 8th grade. So I was pretty young when I was exposed to it, and I am still fine.
That being said--I am not at all surprised over the controversy. It only takes about 5 minutes of listening to the soundtrack to know that this is a very mature play selection. I think the homosexuality is the least controversial part. The language (the f word is used about a million times), the costumes, the drug use... The play, while excellent, contains a lot for people to be upset about.
What I wonder about is that how the school got the right to do the play in the first place. You see, high school productions of Rent have been a big issue since 2007. And from what I have read, now, in order to get the rights to the musical, the principal must first sign a form stating he/she understands the mature nature of the play. AND THEN all of the students performing in Rent must have a permission to perform slip signed by their parents. So there are measures in place to make sure no one is surprised by the content. So what went wrong?
And just to go on further--- Rent is one of the few big musicals that have two versions. The official version and the more toned down, less f-word filled version that high schools can use. Both require principals and students to sign forms before the school gets the rights.
When I read Kim's posting I must admit that I was not at all shocked that a principal was not jumping at putting the musical on. My 2 daughters have seen the movie, but there are plenty of parents that may not want their children watching it. Donna did a good job of stating the possible objections. I did not know all of the steps a school had to go through to get the rights to perform Rent but I do know that big name productions are EXPENSIVE, even for high school. If I remember right it cost our local high school $50,000 just to have the rights to put on Les Miserables. It makes me think that they must have been in the very beginning stages of picking a musical when this happened.
Hi Kim,
Thanks for posting this article. I completely agree with you. I do not believe it does students any good to censor them from ideas because they have homosexual themes. There is so much more to learn from that play.
It continues to amaze me that people especially adults who work with teens continue to think they can shelter teens from homosexuality. Most teens know about homosexuality before they are even in high school so what good does it to keep them from being educated about it.
I think you said it best when you said "I think educating/informing students is the key to creating a society and a student body that being homosexual should not define who you are as a human being."
Thanks,
Jennifer
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