A Maryland middle school musical was cancelled just two weeks from its first performance. School officials say it is because of profanity in the script, but others say it is because one of the characters has gay dads.
Officials at Hyattsville Middle School in Maryland cancelled the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, after the students had been rehearsing for months, reports ABC 7/WJLA. Parent Robert Kapler said to ABC 7 that his daughter “was told it was because there were gay dads in it.”
The school released a statement to ABC 7, however, saying, “Our chief concern focused on the age-level and grade level appropriateness of the material. We are not seeking to remove gay characters from the production. As a school system, we celebrate our diversity and recognize the many rich contributions of the LGBTQ community to our school and the greater Hyattsville community.”
Hyattsville, the Washington Post notes in its coverage of the incident, is “a community that many say prides itself on being diverse, welcoming and LGBTQ-friendly.”
The Post also says the president of the school’s Parent Teacher Student Organization received an e-mail from the interim chief executive of the Prince George’s school system, saying the play was cancelled because teachers were concerned about “the extended use of profanity” and “because copyright laws did not permit a change in language.”
Jamie McGonnigal, a gay dad in the district who used to produce Broadway concerts, told ABC 7, however, “There are a handful of ‘damns’ or ‘Jesus Christs’ that are in there, that could easily be cut out, I don’t think with any complaint from the licensing agency.” Indeed, ABC 7 reached out to a spokesperson of the licensing agency, Music Theatre International, who confirmed “that they have accommodated similar requests in the past,” including changing the song “My Unfortunate Erection” to “My Unfortunate Distraction.” My own online search of “alternative to ‘my unfortunate erection'” quickly told me there was a clean version of this song available (and it’s perfectly innocuous; compare original lyrics with “Distraction” version). A call to MTI would certainly have confirmed that. Presumably, too, any profanity could similarly be changed.
McGonnigal also told me via e-mail:
- I spoke with 6 different students involved in the production and ALL of them were led to believe the reason for the cancellation was the depiction of gay parents. That had to come from somewhere.
- I spoke with Music Theatre International, the licensing agency for the show. It was also made clear to me by them that the depiction of gay parents was the primary concern of administrators.
- Finally, in the meeting last night, I asked Ms. Gee (the director of the show) pointedly “Can you unequivocally state that the inclusion of gay parents in the script was not one of the objections brought to Music Theatre International?” After talking all around the question, she finally said that she could not confirm that.
- This almost makes me angrier than the actual cancellation of the show. It sends a message to their LGBT students and LGBT parents at the school, that they do not have our backs. And when pushed, they will lie about it. This entire debacle has been handled incredibly poorly from tip to tail.
McGonnigal has started a petition calling on the Prince George’s County Public School Administration to reverse its decision and let the play go on. As of this writing, it has over 1,500 signatures.
Among those weighing in on the matter is actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) who played one of the gay dads when the Tony Award-winning musical had its Broadway run. He tweeted:
As one of the original “Gay Dads” in Spelling Bee & a hopeful future Gay Dad I am so annoyed by this. Pull it together Maryland Middle School. I’m sure there are gay students in your school. Think about how this is impacting them. What a disappointment. https://t.co/C7WUFhhAE5
— Jesse Tyler Ferguson (he/him/his) (@jessetyler) April 24, 2019
ABC 7 also reports that the district is considering allowing the play to go on, but “with a disclaimer that it’s meant for mature audiences.” This was apparently proposed by a student, according to Arts Integrity. While I applaud the student’s attempt to find a solution, I think we need to be careful here. People may have vastly differing opinions on what constitutes content that requires a “mature audience” or what a “mature audience” even is. It also wouldn’t be clear whether the inclusion of gay dads is part of what makes it appropriate only for “mature audiences.” (A not-unrelated side note: Check out all of these LGBTQ-inclusive books for babies and toddlers!)
If the school feels it needs to include some kind of a warning, however, it should simply note that the play contains “mild profanity” and “references to genitalia” (assuming they don’t change the “Erection” song to the clean “Distraction” version, in which case they could leave out the latter). Parents could then make their own judgments based on this specific content. The school should leave out any reference to the gay dads here, though, to prove they understand that including LGBTQ characters is not inappropriate for children.
The school is expected to issue its final decision today; I will update this post when it does.
(Full disclosure: I know McGonnigal’s husband from when he used to work at Family Equality Council and I did some projects with the organization.)
UPDATE: 5:30 p.m.: Hyattsville Middle School Principal Thornton Boone has issued a statement that the musical will now be performed, albeit a few days later than originally planned in order to make up for lost rehearsal time. He also states:
Any commentary that suggests the play was postponed due to the inclusion of gay characters is inaccurate and does not reflect the views of Hyattsville Middle School or Prince George’s County Schools (PGCPS) We celebrate our diversity and recognize the many rich contributions of the LGBTQ community to the greater Hyattsville community. Suggestion sto the contrary are at odds with our ongoing efforts to foster an inclusive and tolerant school community. Please note there are no plans to remove the gay characters or references from the production.
Boone also said that the school’s concerns were over “profane language, racial jokes and sexual innuendo/content” and the theater licensing agency “declined our requests to alter the musical.” Now, cast and crew will be required to get signed permission forms from their parents/guardians, although the audience will not. There will be a PG-13 label on the program booklet and promotional materials, and the district’s elementary schools will not be invited.
