A rebel heart beats inside every artist, so the prevailing sentiment in the local theater community, of course, has pulsed in support of seven Northglenn High School students who were suspended for ignoring minor script changes ordered by school officials.
The cast of the randy Ray Cooney farce “Caught in the Net” were told to excise or soften words like “sex,” “orgy” and the names of a few body parts. This is not unusual. Publishing houses often offer sanitized “school editions” of plays and musicals anyway.
On the final night, the kids pretty much performed the play as written. It was an act of clear subterfuge, but one that was blown wildly out of proportion the moment the director took to the stage and declared, “I am not going to be thrown under the bus for this!” The students were suspended from classes Monday, parents say without even their notification.
Media attention was sure to follow, in part because it was all so ridiculous.
“The fact is, we only changed three words that we used a maximum of seven times,” said student actor Patrick Tackwell. “The rest of the play was completely unchanged by us.”
Why then did they even bother? Because it’s a comedy, and the punch lines are funnier as written by Cooney than as re-written by assistant principal Michael James.
Actor Sara Fairfield said the words that come out of teen mouths every day are far worse than anything Cooney wrote in his script. But that’s not really the issue. The school was acting more out of concern for young children and grandparents who might be in the audience.
For the record, one actor’s grandparent, who describes himself as “a strict, conservative Catholic,” was. And he said he was far more offended by what the teacher said after the play than by anything that was said during it.
The subsequent chatter has touched on hypocrisy and free speech as they apply to public schools. But this is not a First Amendment issue. When I speak to high-school newspaper and drama classes, I hate to be the one to tell them that the constitutional protections guaranteed most Americans do not apply to federally funded school programs — a Supreme Court opinion written by Colorado football hero Byron “Whizzer” White.
This is really a matter of students who acted out — modestly — and the school’s overreaction to it. There were children in an audience that numbered only about 40, but no complaints. And the most offensive word on the short list stayed cut. Even in their insurrection, these kids exercised some taste and self-censorship.
The kids have acknowledged that their actions were wrong and accepted their punishment. But what may linger is a justified sense of hypocrisy.
“In the course of our play, we were allowed to make jokes about Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, bigamy and homosexuality, as if no one would find that offensive,” Tackwell said. “And yet, we get into this much trouble for changing three words?”
Yes . . . because those three words all have to do with s-e-x. Funny how high-schools commonly offer human sexuality as a course, and students often read of sex in classic literature — but Northglenn High students can’t say the word on a stage.
Had school officials simply called the kids into the office for a healthy talk about the appropriate role of protest versus the need for greater community protections, that would have been an opportunity for dialogue and further education. Instead, they were suspended. And now they must sign “trust contracts” if they are ever to perform at the school again.
Really? Because they said “orgy?”
Part of teaching students how to be artists must include instilling in them the lesson that pushing limits is inherent to that. Instead, the life lesson these students will come away with is one of a much more cynical and political variety.
Read our original story
Here’s our story that ran in Wednesday’s Denver Post about the including a wide range of reader reaction.
Briefly . . .
Next up for the Denver Center’s Galleria Theatre is Robert Dubac’s “Free Range Thinking,” opening Friday through Nov. 14. That will be followed by “Dixie’s Tupperware Party” from Dec. 1-Jan. 2. It is, as the title suggests, a theatricalized but actual, audience- participation Tupperware party (303-893-4100). . . .
And finally, the Denver Center will celebrate the life of resident composer Lee Stametz, who died last month, at 1 p.m. Nov. 1 in the Seawell Ballroom in the Denver Performing Arts Complex.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
This week’s theater openings
Opening Thursday, Oct. 21, through Nov. 14: Robert Dubac’s “Free Range Thinking,” at the Galleria Theatre
Opening Thursday, Oct. 21, through Oct. 31: TheatreWorks’ “Capsule 33” Colorado Springs
Thursday, Oct. 21, only: BurlyCute’s “Zombielesque,” at Bender’s Tavern
Opening Friday, Oct. 22, through Nov. 14: Evergreen Players’ “The Cripple of Inishmaan”
Opening Friday, Oct. 22, through Nov. 20: Dangerous Theatre’s “London After Midnight: Tales of the Supernatural”
Opening Friday, Oct. 22, through Oct. 30: Vail Valley Theatre’s “The Rocky Horror Musical”
Opening Friday, Oct. 22, through Oct. 30: Colorado Homegrown Tales’ “Ghostlight,” at the Byers-Evans House
Opening Saturday, Oct. 23, through Nov. 13: Paragon’s “W(hole)”
This week’s theater closings
Today, Oct. 17: National touring production of “Grease”
Today, Oct. 17: Performance Now’s “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” Lakewood
Today, Oct. 17: TheatreWorks’ “Ben Franklin’s Tea Party” Colorado Springs
Today, Oct. 17: Manitou Art Theatre’s “Four Play” Colorado Springs
Saturday, Oct. 23: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “The House of the Spirits,” at the Space Theatre
Saturday, Oct. 23: Town Hall Arts Center’s “Rent” Littleton
Saturday, Oct. 23: LIDA Project’s “HOT+WAX: On Being too Big to Fail”
Saturday, Oct. 23: Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s “Doubt”
Saturday, Oct. 23: Springs Ensemble Theatre’s “keepingabreast” Colorado Springs
Saturday, Oct. 23: StageDoor’s “Accomplice” Conifer
Saturday, Oct. 23: Inspire Creative’s “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,” at the Aurora Fox Studio Theatre
Sunday, Oct. 24: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center’s “An Ideal Husband”
Sunday, Oct. 24: Festival Playhouse’s “Dracula” Arvada
Sunday, Oct. 24: Bas Bleu’s “Cherry Docs” Fort Collins
Sunday, Oct. 24: Miners Alley Playhouse’s “Art” Golden
Sunday, Oct. 24: Candlelight Dinner Playhouse’s “Oliver” Johnstown
Sunday, Oct. 24: Jesters Dinner Theatre’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” Longmont
Two new video podcasts
John Moore takes you to TheatreWorks in Colorado Springs, where Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theatre in New York, spoke on the state of the American theater today. Among the topics: The making of “Angels in America,” the state of criticism, Eustis’ goal of making all theater free, and the crisis of black leadership in the American theater. Filmed Oct. 5. Run time: 10 minutes.
John Moore takes you to Miscast 2010, Paragon Theatre’s annual fundraiser that brings together members of the local theater community to perform roles in which they would never otherwise be cast – a concept not always adhered to, but fun nonetheless. The performers (not all shown here) included
Barbra Andrews,
Steven J. Burge,
Rita Broderick,
Delaina Chester,
Brian Colonna,
Amanda Earls,
Drew Horwitz,
Josh Hartwell,
Jim Hunt,
Jaime Katz,
Ellen Kaye,
Chris Kendall,
Luciann Lajoie,
Leroy Leonard,
Billie McBride,
Michelle McHugh,
Missy Moore,
Kelly Van Oosbree,
Julie Perrotta,
Charlie Packard,
Kent Randell,
Erin Rollman,
Robert Michael Sanders,
Tracy Shaffer,
Warren Sherrill,
Gina Wencel,
Martha Yordy,
Patricia Wells,
Jake Williamson and
Joey Wishnia. The host was Kirk Montgomery of KUSA Channel 9. Filmed Sept. 27 at the Aurora Fox. Run time: 8 minutes.
Best bet: Buntport’s “The Great Debate”
This is the season for political debate. Some of the most profound meditations of our time take place at the high-minded Buntport Theater, which stages “The Great Debate” on the third Tuesday of every month. With an election looming that could change the course of our nation, what better time for this month’s battle to the verbose death, “Bacon … Or Kevin Bacon?” Expert teams will pursue victory with venomously loquacious fervor. “Porkies” vs. “Animal House”? Smoked vs. unsmoked? Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, or an oven pre-heated to 350? It’s all on this irreverently aromatic table. Debaters will include recent Comedy Works headliner Adam Cayton-Holland, local actors Jake Walker and Jim Hunt, and members of the Buntport ensemble. No one gets out smelling pretty. Bacon will be served . . . or it had better be. 8 p.m. $5-$7. 717 Lipan St. 720-946-1388 or .
Most recent theater openings
“Ben Franklin’s Tea Party” What happens when our best-loved founding father is miraculously teleported into a 21st century TV studio to face questions from an aggressive group of lively panelists? Was he a traitor to his country? If so, which one? And what exactly was his role in the infamous Tea Party? Why did he own slaves? Through Sunday. Presented by TheatreWorks, 3955 Cragwood Drive, Colorado Springs, 719-255-3232 or
“The Chosen” Chaim Potok’s story follows two boys who live in adjoining neighborhoods but in vastly different worlds. Reuven, son of a modern Jewish intellectual, and Danny, son of a Hasidic rabbi, meet as opponents in a heated baseball game in 1940s Brooklyn and change the course of each other’s lives. Through Nov. 21. Presented by Theatre Or at the Mizel Arts and Culture Center, 350 S. Dahlia St., 303-316-6360 or
“El Louie and other Post-Pachuco Dreams” Composer Daniel Valdez and co-adaptor Anthony J. Garcia re-examine the work of Korean War vet and Chicano Royal Air Force poet Jose Montoya. This examination of the glory and tragedy of Chicano street life is set on the last night of El Rainbow Ballroom. Through Oct. 30. Presented by Su Teatro at the Denver Civic Theatre, 721 Santa Fe Drive, 303-296-0219 or
“Four Play” Manitou Art Theatre will gather teams to come together, create and and stage four new theater pieces in 164 hours, from start to finish. Through Sunday. 1367 Pecan St., Colorado Springs, 719-685-4729 or
“Proof” A troubled but gifted young woman who has just lost her brilliant father is left to wonder: How much of her father’s genius — and madness — has she inherited? Through Nov. 13. Lone Tree Golf Club, 9808 Sunningdale Blvd., 303-471-8171 or
“THe Rocky Horror Musical” The uniquitous Halloween stage adaptation of the camp movie about how clean-cut Brad Majors and his fiancee Janet Weiss are liberated by Dr. Frank N. Furter and his alien transsexuals from the planet Transylvania. Costumes enouraged, but no props allowed. 11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays through Oct. 30 (8 p.m. Oct. 31). 73rd Avenue Theatre, 7287 Lowell Blvd., Westminster, 720-276-6936 or
“Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” It’s London, 1893. The King of Bohemia is being blackmailed by his ex-lover, the famous opera singer Irene Adler. Sherlock Holmes and his trusted companion Dr. Watson are on the case. Through Nov. 14. Presented by OpenStage & Company at the Masonic Temple, 225 W. Oak St., Fort Collins, 970-221-6730 or
“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” This musicalized version of the Charles Schulz comic strip tells the story of an average day in the life of hard-luck kid Charlie Brown. Appropriate for the whole family. Through Oct. 23. Presented by Inspire Creative at the Aurora Fox Studio Theatre, 9900 E. Colfax Ave., 303-790-0875 or
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page. Or check out our listings or
The Running Lines blog
Catch up on John Moore’s roundup of theater news and dialogue.
