<p>After a highly publicized dispute about doing the show, the high school my kids attended is doing RENT, which opens this weekend. It is the special version made for younger people.</p>
<p>I was just made aware that the Westboro Baptist Church, famous for protesting at military funerals that God Hates Fags, is coming to campus on Friday. To read more do a google search for CDM Westboro Baptist Church.</p>
<p>The school in question is Corona Del Mar High School.</p>
<p>Students, faculty and community members have planned a peaceful silent counter-protest. </p>
<p>I feel sick that people can be so hateful.</p>
<p>Now back to your regularly scheduled broadcast....</p>
<p>Yeah, they are coming to my area, too (Baltimore) when my younger daughter’s school (the upper school division) stages Laramie Project next week. They did the same thing at my older D’s high school (Baltimore School for the Arts) two or three years ago, when they staged Laramie. </p>
<p>The only sane response to these people is to ignore them completely. They enjoy stirring things up and getting people angry. I wouldn’t even dignify them with a counter protest. </p>
<p>And one ironic side effect of their protests is that the local media comes out, and then people who don’t agree with Westboro (most do not) want to support the kids, so they buy tickets to the show.</p>
<p>anothermom-w-q - I hate to hear about this kind of protest, but hopefully what it will do is fill the house with people who love Rent and are interested in supporting these kids. I hope they have a great run with it!</p>
<p>We are also in SoCal and my D is currently cast in the ensemble of Rent with a youth theatre company (that also uses equity/ non equity adult actors). They are the first youth company that will do the full version of Rent, not the school one. She is really excited and says everyone in the cast is wonderful. One of the guys from her hs will be playing Roger once he gets home from NYU (CAP 21) for the summer.</p>
<p>My son played Mark at Stagedoor Manor when they were workshopping the high school version of Rent for MTI, and I’ll tell you that I’ve never seen a cast or an audience more moved by a performance than I did that weekend. Those of us with kids who do theater can’t help but to have raised thoughtful, expressive, accepting individuals, and we are, rightly, proud of their character. </p>
<p>Would that we were all as tolerant, supportive and lucky to be surrounded by friends as Roger, Mark, Mimi, Angel and gang. Unfortunately, many of the messages of Rent are lost on some, but they are truly the poorer for it.</p>
<p>Kudos to the school districts that persevere in mounting the show in the face of such misguided community opposition. And hats off to the students, parents, friends and others who support the productions.</p>
<p>Believe me: these particular people DO show up to protest! If you go to their website (which you might not want to do, once you see the URL) you will see that they have planned ahead to protest each and every time (no matter where) that Laramie Project is staged. Honestly and truly, ignoring these people is the very best policy. Even staging a peaceful counterprotest gives them energy and attention and they feed off it. Support the kids doing the show by going to see the show.</p>
<p>You know, I think this group and others like it inadvertently do a lot for the cause of tolerance. Once people get a good look at the protesters and their tactics they realize they don’t want to play for that side in the great moral debate.</p>
<p>skipsmom, I think that is a really great point… in general, I find that our theatre kids are very mature and accepting of so many others, but they can be a bit naive about the fact that others are not as understanding. Groups like this can open up amazing dialogues about degrees of tolerance, hate, feelings of discomfort etc. Our thoughts and hearts will be with these young actors…</p>
<p>The front page of our local paper talks of people calling the local high school and complaining about “Urine Town” because of the name. Ironically, we live in a very “green” town. The callers have no idea what the shows about!</p>
<p>Its funny – Westboro Baptist Church says they are coming to our High School tomorrow (Friday) as well just to protest the name – Walt Whitman – since they think Walt Whitman was gay! The most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! My S – an aspiring filmmaker – is hoping to get a good documentary out of this. Does anyone have experience with them saying they are coming and NOT showing up?</p>
<p>We live in the Washington DC area and now that I hear they are going to be in Baltimore as well, maybe they ARE coming!</p>
<p>Just wanted you to know that the horrendous people from that church are going to make 4 stops in Maryland tomorrow.</p>
<p>First - they’re going to “interrupt” the funeral in the Frederick/Middletown area where the man shot his wife, his 3 young children and then himself.</p>
<p>Second - they’re headed to your son’s high school</p>
<p>Third - they’ll be in downtown Baltimore to protest President Obama</p>
<p>Fourth - they’re picketing Roland Park Country School in Baltimore.</p>
<p>Looks like each stop is scheduled for 45 minutes…</p>
<p>I have not seen any press coverage of their plans to be here. I found out because I have a friend who works at a college in Reading, Pa and the same group is going to picket a talk they have scheduled for next month.</p>
<p>In my humble opinion, these are vile, despicable and ugly individuals…</p>
<p>janice</p>
<p>(If you google the name of the church, you can view their schedule… I’d provide the link, but I just cannot put in print the horrible name of their website.)</p>
<p>They must be spread pretty thin. There were three of them, and over 300 students, and community members counter protesting. After a half hour they asked the police for an escort back to their car.</p>
<p>The signs they had were very hateful and derogatory. The kids behaved themselves, and I actually think the whole thing brought the campus together in a way that would not have happend if they had not shown up. So thanks, WBC!</p>
<p>Wallis, thanks for the Maryland update. I was wondering when they would arrive here, as I am well acquainted with one of those venues. I may be wrong, but I don’t think all the protesters come from Kansas: I think they probably have “troops” in various areas that they dispatch for these things. </p>
<p>I had to laugh out loud that they want to protest at a school named after Walt Whitman because they think old Walt was gay. LOL! To use the word that teens use: LAME!</p>
<p>However repugnant I find their views, I am grateful beyond measure that I live in a country where people (even those who disagree with me so strongly) can freely air their views. I sometimes wonder if we all appreciate what an amazing gift/right/privilege that is. </p>
<p>The fact that so many people are repulsed by the Westboro gang’s protests and views is also a hopeful sign to me that it is finally becoming not acceptable to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation. That’s a good sign.</p>
<p>If anyone is in NYC go to the Dead Poet, a bar on 81st or 83rd and Amsterdam. They have a drink called a Walt Whitman that is like a long island iced tea but with coconut rum. It’s Amazing. They also have a cosmo type drink called an Emily Dickinson, and so on. It’s a very neat hole in the wall, with poetry and old pictures all over. One of the small lesser known neat places in the upper west side.</p>
<p>And back on this subject. It is extremely sad that people cannot accept art for what it is. Rent is an amazing show and so meaningful and people blow it all out of proportion. All of these people do not realize that when they force their ways and beliefs so strongly and rudely on people it just turns them away even more. It’s truly sad. </p>
<p>Alliesmom- I hope your son picks up some great footage. He is like a real-life Mark (in Rent) going to the center of things and showing people the truth of what is going on. I’m sure he will have amazing success, being a filmmaker is truly a gift!</p>
<p>NotMamaRose you are indeed on target that we live in a great country that allows even the most misguided of all people the freedom to protest and present their views (however horrific or ridiculous) in public without fear of government intervention. Equally wonderful is our ability to present theater that holds a mirror up to behavior we find reprehensible whether of private citizen or government power out of control. Now there is your God Bless America!</p>
<p>I am encouraged that there are many (perhaps most) who find this ‘cause’ for lack of a better word absurd and hateful. There will always be nuts in the world --it is good to know that the tide is turning for the better on these issues so that eventually this sort of protest will be completely passe.</p>
<p>Bird7887 --also right on, this will provide someone with great footage for a powerful documentary…some good can always come out of the bad.</p>
<p>One of the great things about the freedom of speech that we have here is that “enemies” (and I use that term loosely, as I don’t think of anyone – even people with whom I disagree most vehemently, as true “enemies:” more like “opponents”) are easily identifiable and in plain sight, if you will. You don’t have to guess what they are thinking: it’s right there to see and hear and to openly disagree with.</p>
<p>I agree completely that one of the amazing things about art (in all its forms) is that it (at its best) is thought provoking and yes, even provocative: it provokes us to think, to feel, to examine and sometimes, yes, to debate and disagree. In my view, the fact that Laramie and Rent and other musicals and plays have elicited such strong reactions in some quarters is a testament to the power of those works.</p>
<p>Well… the Westboro Baptist Church DID come to our school on Friday. About 10 of them came for only about a half hour and several hundred kids staged a counter protest. I was very proud of the kids. No violence. They read Walt Whitman poetry and chanted quietly and peacefully. It was a great lesson for these kids. WBC makes money on lawsuits when someone does something stupid (like throws something and hits them) during their protests. Luckily, nothing like that happened although they certainly seemed like they were trying to incite the kids. </p>
<p>My son got great footage and is going to submit his documentary to a local film festival. The actual WBC protest was anti-climatic – the best part of his film were the interviews with the kids who were organizing the counter protest. This was the first time these kids were really exposed to a group preaching hate on their own territory. I’m curious if WBC will come to the other locations. There are really only 71 of them and about 40 or so are related to the founder (a real idiot IMHO!). We looked at clips of them on the internet and you cannot believe some of things they say!</p>