02.18.09
Teacher accuses principal of nixing ‘Rent’ over gay characters
Drama students at Corona del Mar High School were busy Wednesday learning the lines and music to “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” after “Rent” the spring musical they were in rehearsals for was cancelled.
Drama advisor Ron Martin tells the Los Angeles Times that principal Fal Asrani ordered him to drop “Rent” because of its gay characters. Asrani disputes Martin’s claim. She says she only asked to see the script.
“Rent” tells the story of a group of struggling artists in New York City, several of whom are gay.
Martin tells The Times that he chose the story to teach tolerance after hearing students use gay slurs.
“My responsibility as a drama teacher is to expose my students to a variety of different types of plays,” Martin told The Times.
He also said that he removed a portion of the script that showed a sex scene between two of the gay characters and that he discussed the production with Asrani before assigning it.
Further, he asserts that at a recent meeting with Martin and a representative from the teachers union, Asrani said the production could not go on and that she needed to review the script because of “prostitution and homosexuality.” There is no prostitution in the musical.
Asrani tells The Times she did not order the play cancelled and never received a copy of the script.
Dana Black, president of the Newport-Mesa Board of Education, said that the district does not shy away from edgy subject matter, and, “we don’t want anybody feeling alienated.”
In the meantime, Martin said he replaced “Rent” with “Charlie Brown” because it “is safe.”