I live and teach in a rather conservative area, and have had similar questions arise from time to time. I agree that all of our students (but in particular, those who are LGBTQ) need to have someone to be their champion.
We did "All Shook Up" a few years ago - and it is based on Twelfth Night... so with the gender-bending/ cross-dressing Natalie, there are moments of questioning throughout the story. I think it is ultimately an issue of trust between the directors and the district administration - that you will represent the play as it was written, but done in a tasteful (and not gratuitous) way. Hairspray and Yentl are movies that fall into this same category.
Trying to avoid shows that were already mentioned by others - but here are few more that have characters or themes that fit this situation:
Check, Please (another top produced one-act each year on the EDTA Top 10 list)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (the undercurrent of the relationship between Brick and Skipper)
Streetcar Named Desire (Blanche's previous marriage/his infidelity with another man)
Angels in America
The Color Purple (Shug / Celie)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Fun Home
Kinky Boots
La Cage Aux Folles
I also remember reading an article recently about Disney's History with Queer Characters - Captain Hook, LeFou, even Ferdinand the Bull in a short from years ago who has long eyelashes and doesn't have the "machismo" to participate in a bullfight... (I am a Spanish teacher by day).
Found a link:
Disney's Long, Complicated History with Queer Characters
Harper's BAZAAR |
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Disney's Long, Complicated History with Queer Characters |
Conservative groups have urged a boycott of Disney over news that the family-friendly studio would feature its first "exclusively gay moment" in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Director Bill Condon told the British gay magazine that Le Fou, the bumbling sidekick played by Josh Gad, would be portrayed as a gay man. |
View this on Harper's BAZAAR > |
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Good luck - and thank you for being a champion for your kids!
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Melissa Mintzer
Willow Street PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-14-2017 09:25
From: Donnie Bryan
Subject: Help me! Homosexual characters and adult themes
The Children's Hour, now a classic by Lillian Hellman. One of the teachers in the boarding school commits suicide because of the rumor.
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Donnie Bryan
Department Chair for Visual and Performing Arts
Nashville TN
Original Message:
Sent: 09-13-2017 12:20
From: Matthew Taylor
Subject: Help me! Homosexual characters and adult themes
Hi beautiful people,
I need your help to save one of my productions. It is an interactive murder mystery written for us that has two homosexual characters and deals with some adult themes (alcoholism, addiction, infidelity, pregnancy, and, of course, murder). A local parent has tried to kill it, and, while I feel like I can remove certain things from the production (especially the alcoholism and addiction), I am standing my ground on the homosexual characters. These characters are a loving, normal couple, and there would be absolutely no complaint about the characters if I would change one of them into a male character, but I feel like that will be compromising my personal and artistic integrity to do so.
My principal has asked me to present him with a list of plays produced recently or in planning or rehearsal that include homosexual characters or sexuality as a theme. It would probably also help me to return with a list of plays involving the type of adult themes that are written into the original (whether I choose to change them or not), and it would help me with this production and with another if I had a list of plays in which students portrayed a character of a different gender than their birth/assigned gender. If you can send me details on any production you have done or will be doing that fits the bill, along with a description of any problems that arose from that production, I would be most appreciative.
Thank you,
Matthew S. Taylor
Theatre Director, Elkins High School
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Matthew S. Taylor
Theatre Director, Elkins High School
mstaylor@k12.wv.us
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