Modesto Bee: Turlock High School canceled performances of a student musical this weekend because of “concerns that the content was too mature for a general audience that includes all age levels,” according to Turlock Unified School District spokeswoman Marie Russell.
2 comments:
I read another article on “Be More Chill” getting canceled at this highschool but it provided far less information. Firstly, I find it interesting that the teacher didn’t get the play approved before deciding to produce it. I can only assume one of two things. Either the school had no idea what it was about when they said yes and now claim to have not approved it to be in the favor of the more conservative parents, or that the teacher knew the administration wouldn’t approve and decided to put on the play anyway. If the latter is the case, I wonder why the teacher would decide to do that and risk their job. The article interviews many people, but doesn’t interview the teacher. I found it interesting as well that they still had a private showing for the parents, which must have meant they felt some sympathy for the students.
I am so disappointed to hear this high school production of “Be More Chill” was canceled. I fell in love with it after seeing a high school production during my senior year. It is the only show I have seen (theatrical or televised) to accurately portray the challenges of high school. This is not a show I would let an elementary school aged kid watch, but middle schoolers are experiencing many of the feelings of awkward social interactions, navigating puberty, etc.
Also, the district should have read the script or listened to at least the first song before approving the musical. The show quite literally opens with the main character talking about masturbation: how could they miss that? It was cruel that the students and teachers who put so many hours of work into this production were shut down because some administrator did not take ten minutes to research the show.
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