Prince Rupert elementary school teacher and mother Catharine Hague is calling Charles Hays Secondary School’s December drama production of Legally Blonde: the Musical inappropriate.
In a complaint to the school district, Hague said it was unsuitable for high school students to perform in what she calls a play with crude and sexually-suggestive language.
“It’s inappropriate art sanctioned by the staff who are teachers in the school,” she said.
Hague said parents wouldn’t be comfortable with her using coarse language in the classroom, and there should be high moral standards in all grade levels.
Lynn Hauptman, Prince Rupert School District superintendent told school board trustees on Feb. 12 that she has relayed Hague’s complaint to the drama department, but supported a decision to not act on the complaint.
Trustee Louisa Sanchez agreed with Hague, saying when she watched the musical some portions of the show shocked her.
“I’m sure there are other wonderful musicals that can be presented to an audience,” she said.
Hauptman told trustees there are a number of factors that must be taken into consideration for the annual productions.
Plays chosen are generally heavier with female roles, as male participation in the department is much lower.
She added in the chosen plays there also needs to be a variety of roles so newer students can have smaller parts to gain confidence and stage presence, with enough key roles for older, more experienced students, as well as broad appeal to the students themselves.
Hauptman additionally added there were warnings on posters about crude and suggestive language and content.
Legally Blonde director Alison O’Toole declined to comment on the letter, but assured the superintendent no students are asked to do anything onstage they’re not comfortable with and students involved expressed nothing but positive experiences.
Hague said she recognized all the time and effort that goes into the annual productions, and said O’Toole does a great job, along with staff and students, but thinks there are ways to ensure students have a clean drama to participate in, such as switching out curse words to something less offensive.
“Younger children come to watch the play that are siblings of the high school students,” she said.
O’Toole has been in charge of high school productions in the district for more than two decades, with Principal Sheila Wells saying over that time she received between three to five complaints.
However, Hague said she has talked to many parents in the community who have similar views and decided to raise her concerns with the school board because no one else had.
Still, Board Chair Tina Last said she believes the benefits outweigh the negatives.
“You may have had kids who would’ve never stepped foot on a stage, and suddenly they’re blossoming in a production. It’s unfortunate there are a couple parents that were offended by the content, but you can have that in any production,” she said.
The board entertained the complaint so the topic could be discussed, but decided to not put any limitations on future productions, stating that art can be controversial sometimes.
“Unfortunately our children learn at an early age all types of things we wouldn’t like them to know about through TV, social media and on the streets.
“Hopefully we can instil our values into our children so they understand some things they do in a performance they shouldn’t practice in every day life,” Trustee Janet Beil said.
Two other high schools in the province have also performed Legally Blonde: The Musical.