Friday, April 29, 2005
Musical Proves to be 'Too Cool for School'
Across the country in the area some conservatives have deemed the 'left-coast,' a high school is facing possible action by the school board against a musical which hasn't even opened yet.
The theatre department of La Cañada High School, of La Cañada Flintridge, California, is in the pre-production process of their stage production of "Bat Boy: The Musical," a satirical comedy, which is slated to open June 1.
The musical, awarded for its music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and book by Brian Flemming and Keythe Farley, is about the alienation and bigotry against a half-human, half-bat mutant as he tries to assimilate. The musical opened Off-Broadway at the Union Square Theatre on March 3, 2001, and played its final performance on Sunday, December 2, 2001. In 2001 it also won the awards for "Best Off-Broadway Musical" by The Outer Critics Circle and "Outstanding Musical" by The Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway.
The "Bat Boy" character is based on a series of bizarre articles previously published in the supermarket tabloid The Weekly World News. Playbill.com reported, "The paper, known for publishing photos of U.S. presidents posing with aliens, reported about a grotesque half-child/half-bat who was extricated from a cave and went on a multi state blood sucking spree."
Parents concerned that the play is too racy for high school students, with its references to incest, rape, bestiality, and murder, have asked the school board to cancel the play, but the school board has yet to act. The supporters of the musical observe that shutting the play down would be ceasing to censorship.
The drama director and principal of the high school have recently held several meetings with parents in the community telling them that the play had been toned down. "Obviously, you are not going to have a rape scene in the middle of a high school play," said Principal Michael Leininger.
Earlier in March, a production of "Bat Boy" suffered more severe circumstances at Homestead High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Students at the school who were planning to produce their production of the musical by Flemming and Farley in May, who had already cast the show and started rehearsals, were floored when Homestead Principal Dianne Moake yanked it from the school's performance season, with active support from Southwest Allen County Schools Superintendent Brian Smith. "I think the principal attempted to look at areas that would need to be modified and the list was large enough that the focus of the play was going to have to change," Smith said. "I concur."
The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette reported that "sources familiar with the situation said Ed Koczergo,” the Homestead drama director and fine arts chairman, “had already modified the play’s offensive sections. The same sources said Koczergo offered to resign as drama director.”
In an interview with "Bat Boy" co-writer, Keythe Farley, The Journal Gazette learned more about the story's plot. Farley told them that in the story, "Three teenagers find the bat boy in a West Virginia cave, take him to a veterinarian in town, and the veterinarian’s wife sets out to teach manners and speech to the boy. When the boy becomes refined, he wants to become part of the town, but the town is having problems. Its coal mines have dried up, a plague is killing cattle and residents want a scapegoat. They choose the bat boy." The Gazette added, "Farley said two scenes in the play that some people might find objectionable involve animals getting frisky in the woods to encourage bat boy to do the same with a young woman and a separate explanation of how bat boy was conceived."
Concerning the story in Indiana, I am discouraged with (drama director) Mr. Koczergo's offer to resign as drama director of Homestead. His position, acting as if he did something wrong, will only encourage more school supervisors to start unnecessarily cracking down on faultless drama departments, which I see only as another step toward complete tyrannical censorship of the community forum.
While I understand why parents would be concerned about what sort of ideas their children might interpret from this show, I don't believe they are giving these high school students credit, as people on the brink of adulthood, for the ability to make a rational differentiation of the story's material and its meaning. A proper and less-peripheral attempt of dramatic analysis should be taken into consideration. While this show's storyline does involve mature themes, it takes only a level-headed critic to accept the encompassing positive message of “Bat Boy,” and to view the musical's (claimed) 'offensive' sections as devices that propel the message of the story.
“Bat Boy” is a story about people who wrongly look for the cause of their problems in other people, especially someone as noticeably different and irregular as Bat Boy. Do I smell an artistic attempt to publicly bring forth a morality tale which depicts how human intolerance and indecency can uproot behavior in others that might be amoral and unethical? Clearly, lessons such as these are more than appropriate for any student 14 and up.
Some advocates against the censorship of dramatic material would choose rather to drop a production of the show that was edited outside of the author’s intent, but I would rather the school board realize the value of such an opportunity to speak to youth. Even considering the thematic elements, most people would strongly agree that the overlying message of acceptance of peers is better than most of the other inspiring influences set out by music videos and godlike worshipped celebrities.
But then again, there will forever be those disagreeable boys and girls who suffer from nearsightedness.
The theatre department of La Cañada High School, of La Cañada Flintridge, California, is in the pre-production process of their stage production of "Bat Boy: The Musical," a satirical comedy, which is slated to open June 1.
The musical, awarded for its music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and book by Brian Flemming and Keythe Farley, is about the alienation and bigotry against a half-human, half-bat mutant as he tries to assimilate. The musical opened Off-Broadway at the Union Square Theatre on March 3, 2001, and played its final performance on Sunday, December 2, 2001. In 2001 it also won the awards for "Best Off-Broadway Musical" by The Outer Critics Circle and "Outstanding Musical" by The Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway.
The "Bat Boy" character is based on a series of bizarre articles previously published in the supermarket tabloid The Weekly World News. Playbill.com reported, "The paper, known for publishing photos of U.S. presidents posing with aliens, reported about a grotesque half-child/half-bat who was extricated from a cave and went on a multi state blood sucking spree."
Parents concerned that the play is too racy for high school students, with its references to incest, rape, bestiality, and murder, have asked the school board to cancel the play, but the school board has yet to act. The supporters of the musical observe that shutting the play down would be ceasing to censorship.
The drama director and principal of the high school have recently held several meetings with parents in the community telling them that the play had been toned down. "Obviously, you are not going to have a rape scene in the middle of a high school play," said Principal Michael Leininger.
Earlier in March, a production of "Bat Boy" suffered more severe circumstances at Homestead High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Students at the school who were planning to produce their production of the musical by Flemming and Farley in May, who had already cast the show and started rehearsals, were floored when Homestead Principal Dianne Moake yanked it from the school's performance season, with active support from Southwest Allen County Schools Superintendent Brian Smith. "I think the principal attempted to look at areas that would need to be modified and the list was large enough that the focus of the play was going to have to change," Smith said. "I concur."
The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette reported that "sources familiar with the situation said Ed Koczergo,” the Homestead drama director and fine arts chairman, “had already modified the play’s offensive sections. The same sources said Koczergo offered to resign as drama director.”
In an interview with "Bat Boy" co-writer, Keythe Farley, The Journal Gazette learned more about the story's plot. Farley told them that in the story, "Three teenagers find the bat boy in a West Virginia cave, take him to a veterinarian in town, and the veterinarian’s wife sets out to teach manners and speech to the boy. When the boy becomes refined, he wants to become part of the town, but the town is having problems. Its coal mines have dried up, a plague is killing cattle and residents want a scapegoat. They choose the bat boy." The Gazette added, "Farley said two scenes in the play that some people might find objectionable involve animals getting frisky in the woods to encourage bat boy to do the same with a young woman and a separate explanation of how bat boy was conceived."
Concerning the story in Indiana, I am discouraged with (drama director) Mr. Koczergo's offer to resign as drama director of Homestead. His position, acting as if he did something wrong, will only encourage more school supervisors to start unnecessarily cracking down on faultless drama departments, which I see only as another step toward complete tyrannical censorship of the community forum.
While I understand why parents would be concerned about what sort of ideas their children might interpret from this show, I don't believe they are giving these high school students credit, as people on the brink of adulthood, for the ability to make a rational differentiation of the story's material and its meaning. A proper and less-peripheral attempt of dramatic analysis should be taken into consideration. While this show's storyline does involve mature themes, it takes only a level-headed critic to accept the encompassing positive message of “Bat Boy,” and to view the musical's (claimed) 'offensive' sections as devices that propel the message of the story.
“Bat Boy” is a story about people who wrongly look for the cause of their problems in other people, especially someone as noticeably different and irregular as Bat Boy. Do I smell an artistic attempt to publicly bring forth a morality tale which depicts how human intolerance and indecency can uproot behavior in others that might be amoral and unethical? Clearly, lessons such as these are more than appropriate for any student 14 and up.
Some advocates against the censorship of dramatic material would choose rather to drop a production of the show that was edited outside of the author’s intent, but I would rather the school board realize the value of such an opportunity to speak to youth. Even considering the thematic elements, most people would strongly agree that the overlying message of acceptance of peers is better than most of the other inspiring influences set out by music videos and godlike worshipped celebrities.
But then again, there will forever be those disagreeable boys and girls who suffer from nearsightedness.
- SOURCES FOR THIS STORY -
. at 8:35 AM