Hi Arden: It looks from the outside like you are doing everything you can to make sure this is a meaningful theatrical experience for the kids, one they could grow from. My heart goes out to you. And my gut reaction is like Kati's - this is a challenging show, but if you think it is challenging in a good way and starts conversations then don't shy away. Especially if you disagree with the mom's take on the point of the show. BUT it is also your job and your community - if it is getting too stressful, you have every right to not fight every battle. A couple of other things come to mind.
The first is that the key issue for making a decision seems to be the one the mom brings up: what's the mission of a highschool theater program?
Do you know the Howard Sherman article? Might provide some insight for you moving forward.
Also, if you can, can you stop emailing and have a meeting? In the digital world, it is hard to do, but I think email is an awful place to have discussions. Our principal said something a few years ago that has stuck with me: if something can't get resolved in one email and then a response, jump on the phone or into a meeting. There is no space for actual listening in an email exchange. If this mom is going to put a stop to MANY of your students good experience, she must make time to meet with you (and an administrator) to really HEAR from you. To hear your hopes and dreams about the show and why you think it is important.
Finally, if I can inappropriately makes some assumptions: it feels like what is going is that this mom has a kid who loves theater (loves having a home, a community, loves you!) who, for legit reasons for him/her, feels like they can't do the show and so is going to be left out. The kid is probably sad, there have been tears, and the mom is fighting for her child. That deserves a ton of empathy and indeed admiration. But does that mean this mom should control the other kids' experience and growth? I think it is important to understand where she is coming from in order to figure out what to do.
Oh and finally, finally, are there things you can do in the staging to highlight the elements that you find important? Can you talk to the mom and say, I hear your concerns, here are a few things we are going to do that we think will send a different message than than the broadway version? To be clear that you are doing Seqouyah's SA not a different one.
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Nick Hoffa
Drama Director
South Pasadena Unified
South Pasadena CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-19-2019 08:04
From: Kati Heintzman
Subject: Spring Awakening - touching a nerve on campus
Hi,
I don't know the show. At all. As a parent I would have every right not to not let my kid try out or be in a play that I had issues with or that my kids had issues with. However, I would never insert myself into those decisions that belong to someone else. If she wants to not come, not support, not let her kids join in, fine. To keep others from doing so is wrong.
If you let a parent, whether right or wrong, make decisions on your shows, where does it stop? Next show, would you have to run it by her to get approved? It's a slippery slope and if you have the administrations support that's all you need. You have prepped for this and put all appropriate supports in place. Many, many kids need voices out there and you are now that voice until showtime.
Don't let her piss in your cornflakes.
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Kati Heintzman
Thespian Advisor
Middletown City Schools
Middletown OH
Original Message:
Sent: 09-18-2019 01:14
From: Arden Thomas
Subject: Spring Awakening - touching a nerve on campus
Can you share some more thoughts about doing Spring Awakening at the high school level? I've read everything about SA on this forum, but I'm still not sure how to respond to a mother who is raising quite a ruckus on campus about our production, scheduled for April.
I have a core group of students who have seen the show in NYC and here in LA and are dying to do it. We went to the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) in the spring to see their production, and everyone was blown away. Except for this mother who was outraged, and her son who felt really uncomfortable. But the core students have been practicing the songs all summer, and we have 20 kids signed up to do the show. I have programming started to support the production and am partnering with non-profits (teenage suicide/stress, LBGTQ, Planned Parenthood) to provide workshops in the months leading up to the production. The administration has been supportive. Until this mom started writing emails and making phone calls .... Now they want me to think about pulling it.
I don't do this show lightly, and I have honestly been concerned about the few kids who are unsettled by it. Three kids won't be in the show b/c it makes them too uncomfortable. They are core theater students - 2 juniors and 1 senior - so this makes me feel really bad that they won't be in the show. But the other seniors are desperate to do it, and I absolutely love the music, myself. We're a small school, so losing 3 kids feels like a lot. (But 20 have signed up to do it!)
I'm going to give quotes from some of her emails, and I'd love to hear your thoughts about any of this. Thanks!
"I don't think many kids will be honest about their level of discomfort. There is a lot of peer pressure (for kids and parents) to be hip and woke -- heaven forbid anyone step up and act too conservative. You should assume the voices against will be more muted."
"The show is not about kids finding their own voices. It is about adults being corrupt and untrustworthy, and our base natures being vile and untrustworthy. Trust no one -- authority figures are domineering and self-centered; they will fail you and hurt you -- in fact leading to two characters' deaths. Do not trust even yourself, as you are too flawed to separate out love, sex and violence. This show is offensive not because of "Totally Fucked" -- I don't care about using the "F" word. But I do believe that authority and order very much matter in society, and kids need to learn what people and systems can be trusted, as opposed to rejecting them all. And I certainly want kids to love and trust themselves, and not confuse sex, love, and violence. That was the most disappointing and offensive part of the show."
"A school is not and should not be a democracy. Educators have a mission, and it isn't to please students. What is the mission of a high school theater program to you? Is it community advocacy? Raising awareness? Or is it providing a safe space for young budding actors to learn theatre at their appropriate developmental pace? Sometimes you have to chose your mission."
"I think that you have done a lovely job building a community of kids and parents, but this is going to split the community."
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Arden Thomas
Sequoyah High School
Pasadena CA
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