<p>Our HS spring play is "to Kill a Mockingbird" and my d will be playing the part of Maude. We just found out that Mary Badham ("Scout" from the
movie TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD) will come to our school next week to have a discussion with our kids and then a "meet and greet" reception with the parents and kids afterwards! How cool is that! Hope I can get some pictures, don't know if that will be allowed or not.</p>
<p>Wow, NanE, that is really exciting and something your daughter and you will remember for a lifetime. When my daughter's school (Catholic) put on Cabaret, there was a big controversy about the content. The director brought in a victim of the Holocaust and discussed what was happening in Germany during that time. I wrote to Joel Grey (because he was in Wicked at the time) and he wrote back to the kids telling them about the importance of the story and how it was so great that they were telling it to others. He also invited them backstage to meet him. I know that my daughter will NEVER forget that night, having the opportunity to walk across the stage and talk to such a kind legend who used his fame in a positive way to inspire.</p>
<p>Interesting that you should mention the controversy! When the drama teacher first announced this years play, the principal said NO! Then the press got ahold of the controversy and blew it out of proportion. The principal sat down with the teacher and the kids and jointly decided it was an important story to be told and how to produce it in a respectful way. As a result... "the show must go on"!</p>
<p>We had so much controversy, it made the local news stations, all the papers, even an AP article that was joked about by Jay Leno on the Tonight Show! There were threats that people would picket outside the show, hold a candlelight vigil, go to the show and turn their seats backwards. None of those things actually came to fruition, but boy did it cause a lot of publicity for the show and we packed them in all nights!!!</p>
<p>Why is "To Kill a Mockingbird" controversial? It's a classic and some people believe the most powerful/best American novel ever written.</p>
<p>People not wanting shows like Cabaret and To Kill A Mockingbird put on by schools? Wow, I can't believe that! :confused: To be honest, my school (I mean the high school I attended rather than my college) does far more edgy new writing than classics like those - one of the shows this year was about child abuse and suicide for example - and nobody batted an eyelid. Certainly seems a rather extreme reaction!</p>
<p>Hope your daughter has a great time and gets a lot out of the experience NanE :)</p>
<p>NotMamaRose, I agree totally as would the Drama teacher and the Principal, it's even required reading in our school system at the middle school level. Unfotunately, not everyone else feels the same way! I think the Principal was originally trying to avoid having those people cause a ruckus and end up giving the school a black eye!</p>
<p>Mary Badham was so gracious and generous. She did a discussion with the cast this morning then took indivdual shots with the kids and autographed their playbooks, posters etc.! She is coming back this afternoon to take a group shot with the entire cast at rehearsal. Here is a pic of my D and Ms Badham if you would like to see.
<a href="http://groups.msn.com/TheArtfulGarden/tokillamockingbird.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=60%5B/url%5D">http://groups.msn.com/TheArtfulGarden/tokillamockingbird.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=60</a></p>
<p>NanE, that's such a great photo. Ms. Badham sure hasn't changed much. Your D is fortunate to have had the chance to talk with the actor who originated the role of Scout on film. I have read that Ms. Badham is very generous about travelling around to talk about the film and the book. I reread the novel recently and was amazed anew at how well the message has held up. I heartily recommend that everyone reread it this summer. Totally worth your while.</p>
<p>Nan E. Great picture! Cute girl! and you can still tell that she was Scout!
Last year my S got to spend a couple of days with Shuler Hensley, it was a wonderfull experience.:)</p>
<p>So cool that's for sharing your story and your picture</p>
<p>Those are 2 really exciting theater stories, about Ms. Badham and Joel Gray.</p>
<p>It's very exciting to hear about high schools doing more cutting-edge shows.
Now students learn about the Holocaust and the Civil Rights movement as part of their regular Social Studies curriculum. It's history; nobody's making it up; so why shouldn't it be there for students to see as literature and art to consider, as part of their educations.</p>
<p>In our school district, we had an interesting experience on controversial theater topics. Some students in an area youth theater had worked up and were ready to perform "Bang Bang, You're Dead" about school shootings. He also had the ability and team to have discussions about it in the classrooms so kids could process the difficult themes.
The superintendent of schools read the script and okayed the script, but required that the play be advertised under a different title. The youth theater director, very experienced on Broadway etc, did not find it seemly to call up the playwright and ask for permission to change his title. So the play was never performed in the public schools. However, it did go on at a small private venue but only a handful of people attended.
So do feel good about your schools that they went forward!</p>
<p>My D's school staged "The Laramie Project," which brought to town members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who make it a point to stage protests wherever the play is produced. (They apparently do not like the fact that the play promotes tolerance.) The protesters paraded up and down the street in front of the school with signs, all of which resulted in media coverage of the hooplah and brought more attention to the play than if the protesters hadn't showed up at all! I was glad about that, because Laramie is an amazing one and well worth seeing.</p>
<p>Thank You SRW, my D would say "MOM, why did you put that picture up, it's awful" :D Actually there IS a much better pic of her at my msn site under "family"</p>
<p>NotMamaRose, I heard that, that same group said some horrible things about the recent shootings at V.T., I don't even want to repeat what they said it was so horrendous! AND I heard they were going to try and protest some of the funerals, how sick and sad is that!</p>
<p>Yes, NanE, it is (in my opinion) sad and sick. I was pleased when my D told me that her teachers counseled the kids to not engage with the protesters, but simply to walk quietly past them and into the school. I am not sure exactly what motivates that group, though one of the characters in the play (which you all probably know is based on interviews with many people in the town of Laramie, Wyo. who either knew Matthew Shepard or were somehow involved in the events that unfolded) was based on one of the church's leaders. It's a less-than-flattering portrait. By the way (on a happier note) , your D is lovely!</p>
<p>What a great topic! The director at my D's school almost always chooses something very dark or disturbing. We often laugh about it, claiming that if it doesn't have murder, suicide, prostitution or misery, he's not interested. He wants the actors and the audience THINK and examine issues, not just "have fun." He's a very intense guy. "Miss Saigon" goes up this weekend. It has prompted many wonderful discussions at our house about the Vietnam war, children of war, prejustice, and the values of our countries leaders. We've compared VN and Iraq and discussed the similarities and differences.
Change is difficult and even frightening for many people. Fear drives many people to do illogical things. Why anyone would protest a play that sheds light on discrimination and a hate crime is beyond me. They are so blinded by their fear of homosexuality that they fail to see that the play also puts the death penalty in the spot light.</p>
<p>My D's high school did the Laramie Project, as did the university that one of my other Ds attends. Both productions were visited by the hateful bigots from the Westboro Baptist Church. This group, albeit very small, are a presence at every production they learn about, at military funerals, and, I also heard that they will be making an appearance at some of the funerals of VT victims. They have been doing this for years, and it's not just because they think that the Laramie Project promotes tolerance. They believe that everything that happens in the world that they deem negative is a result of homosexuality. The church's website is godhatesfags.com, which shows you the mindset of these abominable individuals. If you google Fred Phelps or check wikipedia, you can learn more.</p>
<p>I applaud these schools that pursue productions that are thought-provoking and that stretch not only the audience, but the actors who perform in them as well. This is another issue that I've always thought should be included in the college search; what types of shows that the various schools do. Obtaining information on the list of shows produced over a period of 4-5 years should give your prospective students a good idea of whether or not traditional standards are all that the school ever does, or if there is an opportunity for more challenging work thrown into the mix.</p>
<p>Excellent point, alwaysamom. I will mention this to my daughter so she can add that to her checklist of questions to ask/stuff to find out. (And yes, I have heard that the Westboro bunch shows up at various military funerals and had plans to appear at VT funerals. Their spokespeople said some very ugly things during the protest here. I was very very proud of our students, who behaved with dignity and tolerance for everyone, including the protesters.)</p>
<p>It is amazing and frightening, how filled with hatred those protesters are. They even place their own little children in front of their group to yell hateful things at those they don't agree with. I have to admit that I have been truly terrified on the occasions that I have encountered them, but my eldest son seems to have gotten a really good handle on what to do with them- whenever they are on whatever city he happens to live in, he organizes his friends and they go as a group to completely block them from the media exposure which is, of course, what they want the most!
NanE, your daughter is a lovely young woman!</p>
<p>I heard that a radio personality actually organized a group of military families who routinely volunteer to do the same thing -- peacefully block the protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church from the media -- at military funerals. Of course, as I said before, in the case of the staging of Laramie at my kid's school, the presence of the protesters attracted media attention to the school and the production, which resulted in a larger-than-average audience, so that ended up being a good thing.</p>