School Cancels “Vulgar” Musical With Gay Characters

Cleveland’s Fox affiliate reports:

After months of planning, a local school district abruptly canceled its musical, claiming it was “vulgar.” In a statement, the Cardinal Local Schools superintendent Jack Cunningham said, “The Cardinal Local School District has decided that its spring musical production will not be ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.’ Its dialogue and song lyrics contain vulgarity and are therefore not suitable for our pre-teen and teenage students in an educational setting.”

Two of the characters in the musical are gay male parents. The district states anyone suggesting discrimination is “mistaken.” “There were concerns about the language in one of the songs,” said Mandi Matchinga, assistant director for the musical. “There was a concern about Jesus appearing in the show and there was a complaint about the fact that two of the parents were gay.” Matchinga said changes to dialogue were made and a song was already edited.

Read the full article. The musical won two Tonys and three Drama Desk awards during its 2005 Broadway run. Disney is planning a film adaptation.

After months of planning, a local school district abruptly canceled its musical, claiming it was “vulgar.” https://t.co/TNlOCDLNeR

— fox8news (@fox8news) January 31, 2023