OC High School RENT Case Lawsuit Settled

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Orange County school district where varsity athletes threatened to rape and kill the female lead actress of a student production of the musical RENT has now agreed to provide harassment and discrimination prevention training to all Corona del Mar High School students, teachers and administrators and other district officials, according to a legal settlement announced this morning. The Newport-Mesa Unified School District will also apologize to the former student.

The story made national headlines earlier this year when the principal at the coastal school canceled the performances of RENT because of concerns about its content, but later reinstated it after protests. Officials with the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued the district, said the controversy over the musical, a story of struggling artists in New York City including characters who are gay and diagnosed with AIDS, was just one example of official tolerance of misogyny and homophobia on campus. 

"No one else will have to go through what I went through," said Hail Ketchum, 17, in a written statement. She is now a freshman studying theater at Loyola Marymount University. "I hope the students at Corona del Mar High School will learn from my experience that it's possible to stand up for what is right and prevail." To read the entire article click here.

RENT was performed at Corona del Mar High School last April 23rd in a happy ending to a sticky and drama filled lead up to rehearsals. The production was halted by Principal Fal Asrani because of "homosexual" content. Last week, she replaced RENT with You're A Good Man Charlie Brown as the school's upcoming spring musical.

Drama students and alumni spoke out against the show's cancellation, which some labeled as intolerance, as the controversy became a hot topic on blogs. The story spread all the way to The New York Times. "I never had a problem with the play selected by Mr. Martin," said Corona del Mar High School Principal Fal Asrani, in a statement released by the school district. "The selection of our drama productions is his call. I just requested the opportunity to review the script before it was final. [The school ]administration received parent concerns from a previous play and I wanted to be able to ensure my commitment to the concerned parents as well as show my support of the student production without any reservation."

Various online news services including Queerty.com and the NY Times Online had reported that Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, Calif., had cancelled the student production of RENT, due to the fact that the school's principal, Fal Asrani, objected to RENT's gay characters.

Principal Asrani denied she stopped production on the musical because of the gay content.

Ms. Asrani told The Orange County Register that the school drama teacher Ron Martin stopped the show because there was not enough time to revise the script.

Mr. Martin said that was not true, adding that scripts for the play had not yet been ordered and tshe had already told me that she "would not let it proceed because of the homosexuality in it".

Another high school, Rowlett High School in Rowlett, Tex., canceled its planned production of RENT this past December after parents and community members objected to the urban and intense content of the show, though that didn't stop cast members from performing a version of the musical at Southern Methodist University which is located close to Rowlett High.

The listing on the Music Theatre International website which holds the production rights for the RENT: School Edition states that; "This adaptation has been carefully done, working with the Larson estate to retain the dramatic intent of the groundbreaking rock musical, and consists of minimal changes to language and the removal of one song (CONTACT) to make it possible for many schools to perform this piece".

Rent, written by Jonathan Larson and directed by Michael Greif, opened at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre, on April 29, 1996 following a history making, sold out, extended limited engagement at off-Broadway's New York Theatre Workshop. The musical went on to win every major best musical award, including the Tony Award, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Rent played its final performance at the Nederlander Theatre on September 7, 2008 after playing 5,124 performances and 16 previews. Rent is the seventh longest running show in Broadway history and grossed over $280 million during its Broadway run.

Tours of Rent have crisscrossed the country almost continuously since late 1996 and the U.S. national tours have grossed over $330 million. The musical has been translated into every major language and been performed on six continents, including in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

To read more on the story over at the Los Angeles Times click here.

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