HYATTSVILLE, Md. — A lesson now in the power of angry students and parents. The Hyattsville Middle School principal has just backed down. The spring musical is back on after he cancelled it without warning within weeks of its opening.
Was it the profanity, the hint of sex, or the presence of gay characters the school found objectionable? Parents said they heard all those explanations.
"It's the 21st century," said Cate Tornquist, 12, one of the stars of the middle school performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. "We can't be discriminating against people for who they love."
Parents and students had mobilized, picketing outside the school with posters like "The Show Must Go On" and "Three Months of Work for Nothing?"
If the problem was the gay dads in the show, "Then this is just an egregious example of intolerance," said Bob Kapler, whose 13-year-old daughter had been practicing for months, singing in the shower, and reciting her lines before she went to bed.
"It's infuriating," said Kapler. "When I spoke in front of a group of 50 people, I almost lost it, I was so angry."
At a meeting at the school Tuesday night, parents said the principal told them it wasn't the gay characters in the play, but the brief sexual innuendo and the mild profanity.
There is a song in the show that's titled, "My Unfortunate Erection," but parents said the teacher had tweaked the words to something less explicit. The Putnam County Spelling Bee is frequently performed in high schools. It's not clear how many middle schools are presenting it.
Principal Thornton Boone announced Wednesday afternoon that the show will go on, with a disclaimer about mature content.
"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 Public Schools (PGCPS). We celebrate our diversity and recognize the many rich contributions of the LGBTQ community to the greater Hyattsville community. Suggestions to 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 wrote in a letter home.
"...(C)oncerns arose over the production's use of profane language, racial jokes and sexual innuendo/content and its appropriateness for our young performers and even younger children in the audience. Despite diligent efforts to tailor the production to our students and audience, the theater licensing agency declined our requests to alter the musical; which led to our original decision to cancel the upcoming performances," the letter continued.
Boone apologized for a process that allowed the play to be selected in the first place.
The students will get an extra week to practice. When they perform May 17 and 18, they're actually inviting elementary school students to come.