Ontario School Board Votes To Restore Funding to PROM QUEEN The Musical Following Backlash

As BWW previously reported, the two school boards in London, Ontario, had cut funding to their school's production of PROM QUEEN, a musical based on a true story about a gay student fighting to take his boyfriend to prom.

The musical was created at the Sheridan College Canadian Musical Theatre Project.

The London District Catholic School Board and the Thames Valley District School Board had both decided to pull their financial backing, a total of $30,000, putting a dent in the show's $250,000 budget.

An online fundraising campaign was launched, which has now reached over $58,000. The campaign can be found here.

Yesterday, the Thames Valley District School Board voted to restore their $15,000 portion of funding to the musical.

Matt Reid, the chair of the board of trustees, said at the public meeting - which was streamed online -"We must be clear to the community that a mistake was made in this case. While our administration had the best of intentions - the actions were unfortunately viewed by those in the public as rooted in homophobia, and for this I am sorry."

The show is being offered exclusively to the Grand Theatre and will likely be staged professionally following the student production.