The day the music died.
 

*&#*$! High School.

Less than one week from opening day, Moonie Jr's high school administration decided to cancel the fall production of "Chicago". Apparently someone complained about the subject matter and so in order to not offend anyone....

Well I gotta say, I'm pretty damn offended. In fact I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore.

Wow. That's awful. I hope someone will organize a performance off-campus. What's the worst they could do, end up doing the Cell Block Tango?

It'd be awesome if you started counter-protests.

I read today some parents are SUING a certain high school to prevent them from staging the High-School-Toned-Down versions of Rent and The Laramie Project.


But, Chicago? WTF?!?

In high school. when Prop. 8 kept us from being able to use the school theatre to put on shows during the summer, we created Corona Youth Theatre Company. Did 3 shows that summer in two different local theatres.

Sadly, people are always going to be stupid.

Yeah, if all else fails, I can definitely see pulling a "Footloose" on them.

At this point we are rallying the troops and trying to determine exactly what the relevant facts are, and who to go after. I'll interrupt regular programming as events warrant.

There's your first mistake.

I hate to digress, but how did Prop 8 prevent you from putting on shows at the school in the summer? Were you doing Prop 8 The Musical??

The pendulum swings. Back in 1980 when we did Woody Allen's "God," we had to change lines like "What if the message is 'Does the queen have the clap?'" to 'Does the queen have a social disease?' And so on. Another kid wanted to do a scene from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" but was not allowed to. A decade later, our drama teacher was receiving awards for student-written productions dealing with AIDS and other teen issues.

Apparently the pendulum has swung back.

Okay, my younger son's Middle School did a ripping good "Cell Block Tango" in a review a few years ago. In a public school. So, yeah...WTF? With a WEEK to go? Sounds more like someone was looking for a reason to cancel the musical and used censoring the show as an excuse. But then, I've developed a suspicious nature in my old age...

Back in my parochial school days in the 60s the nuns wrote new lyrics to "Officer Krupke" because they didn't like the ones we were singing. But at least WE opted to dump it rather than sing "my brother's in distress."

That sucks Moonie! God forbid kids be allowed to expand their minds or anything...

I also recall in our day, such "reworked" lines had ways of slipping back in during performance night - oops

I went to a concert put on by Disney cast members - (the group is called Encore, and they do some incredibly nice musical concerts) - and in this particular case, they did a medley from RENT. Disney cast activities demands that such events be family friendly, so it was with some amusement that I listened to their rendition of La Vie Boheme, and heard the memorable substitution of "Cinderellabration" in place of "mucho masturbation."

And to think, my high school did Cabaret and Hair. Okay, toned down versions, but in the end, we're still talking about shows with acid dropping and lines like "Each and every one... a virgin".

I'll never forget the anger I felt when my high school friends were censored in their performance of "Working". My friend's monologue, in which his character fantasizes about strangling his coworkers (who hasn't??) had whole sentences cut down to grunts and hand gestures. It was a short while past Columbine and any concept of violence was verboten.

I haven't laughed this hard in WEEKS! Seriously! :D

That's what our teacher did with "God." She found a less offensive synonym.

The Plot Thickens...

Here is the official response on this issue:

So I have two targets. The "peer review board" and Samuel French
I'm also going to start digging for a student version of the play.

Does anyone have any experience with Samuel French?

That whole bit must have been cut out of our version (what replaced Into The Woods when the Northridge Earthquake sidelined our first read-thru. Stupid Working). Then again, I only really remember the housewife (my part) the waitress (part I auditioned for), the person whining about Guantanamera as elevator music, and I think a trucker?

Heh, I bet their administration would have had a heyday with Tom's high school. They did a production of Sondheim's "Company," which is an excellent musical involving much, much, much discussion of sex, alcoholism, drug use...

I believe that this play is actually really long, and each bit is a separate song or monologue, so schools pick and choose bits. It was the principal who edited our version of Working.



Um, a "student version" of a play about infidelity, murder, more infidelity, more murder? Exactly how do you do that?

If it's Shakespeare or opera, it isn't seen as a problem.

I think Chicago has earned enough cultural cachet to keep company with the classics.

Just put a sign up at the entrance to the auditorium saying:

I think PC has gone too far these days. I was about 14 when I first went to see Chicago in 1980 with Mum & Dad. We all loved it. :cool:

I was ten when my parents took me to see the movie version of "Cabaret."

I like the songs, but most of it was over my head, and I thought the MC was a little weird.

I don't think CP disagrees, I think she's just questioning - what exactly can be cut out of Chicago to somehow make it a "student" version that avoids all non-pcness? It's hard to imagine any amount of editing that would satisfy objectors, there isn't a moment in the play that's not about some sort of immorality.

That's the thing. Nothing needs to be cut out of Chicago to be a "student" version. I hardly think Chicago will be the raciest thing they see all week. Flippy is right on point when he talks about opera and Shakespeare.

Again, I don't think we disagree here. What I can't fathom is, what exactly did the admin. think they were getting with the "student version" that they were under the impression was being produced? If one objects to anything in Chicago, I can't imagine a version that would be considered unobjectionable. That's not to say that I agree that there is anything objectionable, just that it doesn't compute that if you are someone who objects to the un-edited play that there could possibly exist a version you don't object to.

So I guess that means that either the admin. had no more than a vague idea about the content of the play and just took someone's word for it that they had a version that was somehow censored to remove anything objectionable. Or, more likely, some parent with pull got wind and their sensibilities were offended so they made noise.

So, we agree, then?

Haha...

What, does that one parent have nekked jpgs of the administrators? Or, did their kid not get the lead and now there can be no musical?

Is this a public or private school?

Um, proposition 13.

Not 8.

That's different.

Woo Hoo...

We're back on!

The Parents united shall never be defeated...
The Parents united shall never be defeated...
The Parents united shall never be defeated...
The Parents united shall never be defeated...

:D

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG, can I still get tickets?!?

Will that be credit or debit?

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY !!!!

They had it comin', they had it comin', they only had themselves to blame....


and if other PC committes have had their way, just maybe there does exist somewhere a version of the show that reads:

[Fred] Sweetheart !
[Roxie] Don't 'sweetheart' me, you norty poo-poo-hed.

and

[Matron Momma Morton] [singing]:
"If you want my assistance, give me a little support,
You be nice to me, and, I'll be nice to you."

and

[Velma]: So this one night before the show we're down at the YMCA in Cicero, the three of us, having Colas, having a few laughs and we ran out of ice. So I go out to get some.

I come back, open the door, and there's Veronica and Charlie playing 'Go Fish' without me.
Well, I was so miffed, I completely blacked out, I can't remember a thing.
It wasn't until later, when I was playing harmlessly with my Barbie Dolls I even realised they were only funnin' me.

:D

So what happened?

I guessing someone had a bit of an accident....

Shhh!