Recently, a controversy erupted in the Lone Star of Texas at Sherman High School. No, this was not about gun violence. Nor was it about racial violence. Rather, it concerned transgender rights and school politics, and a group of kids were unfortunately caught in the crossfire.
Max Hightower, a high-school senior, was cast in the leading role of Ali Hakim in his school’s production of the Broadway musical Oklahoma. During rehearsals, however, he was informed by the principal, Scott Johnston, that he would no longer be playing Ali. The reason was the school board decided that “…only male actors can play male roles, and female actors can play female roles”. Because Max is transgender male, it had been decided that he was now out of the show. According to Erin Pellet of lxii.com, “SISD said there is no policy on how students are assigned to roles, but for this production, the gender of the role as identified in the script will be used for casting. This may not apply to future productions.” Superintendent Tyson Bennett, who sits on the school board, is believed to have a role in the decision.
Needless to say, the decision did not go over well with the community. Max’s parents, Phillip and Amy Hightower were furious with the decision, especially after getting a phone call from Johnston. Amy posted a message on Facebook, which read “I don’t normally post super personal stuff out here on the ol’ FB but today I am. Until you have a kid that comes to you and tells you they don’t want to live anymore because they’re different, don’t tell me what you would do. We almost lost this kid, more than once, and now we just support Max and what makes Max happy.”
Other students also felt upset after being cut for similar reasons. For example, several girls in the ensemble were playing male roles but similarity got the boot. The Oklahoma set for the show was torn down not long afterwards. When pressed for comment, the school board put out a statement that read: “Unfortunately, all aspects of the production need to be reviewed, including content, stage production/props, and casting to ensure that the production is appropriate for the high school stage. There is no policy on how students are assigned to roles. As it relates to this particular production, the sex of the role as identified in the script will be used when casting.”
For his part, Max was also upset by the school board’s decision. As he told The Dallas Morning News, “I think the only word I said was, ‘Why?”, he said. “I like being in theater because I get to be with people that are like me because there’s a lot of trans people and LGBTQ people in theater. It allows me to express myself. Theater has been ours.”
To make matters worse, the principal’s voicemail to parents has been leaked to the media. In addition to Mr. Johnston making the focus on the message about gender, he also misgendered
Max by referring to him as a female. “She’s currently cast in a male role,” Johnston said in the voicemail. “Moving forward, the Sherman Theater Department will cast students, born as females in female roles, and students born as males in male roles.”
Not only is that message offensive and discriminatory, but it also unnecessarily singles out the student in question. Furthermore, the principal’s words sound transphobic, especially with how he feels about who should play which theatrical roles. This writer wouldn’t be surprised if Johnston has never tried to participate in theatre, whether in acting, crew, or volunteer capacities. What’s more, Texas has policies about limiting which bathrooms transgender students can use, sports teams on which they can play, etc. There is even a recent ban on gender-affirming care for youths who identify as transgender.
Perhaps the most ironic thing about the whole fiasco is that Oklahoma features a Rodgers and Hammerstein number titled “It’s a Scandal! It’s an Outrage!” in the musical score. It is also the solo song Max was set to sing in the production. Thematically, the number is about how people use deceit and trickery to get their way. Nobody could have envisioned the school board using shady tactics to remove Max and others from their roles, let alone cancelling the show.
To save face, the district tried to claim the musical had adult themes, violence, foul language, and sexual content that made it inappropriate for the students to perform. A statement read as follows “Sex will not be considered when casting the new production. Students will be able to play any part, regardless of whether the sex of the character aligns with the sex of the student assigned at birth.” Led by Bennett, the school board proposed doing a junior version of Oklahoma. However, this version would only run an hour, and many adult elements of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical would be revised, edited down, or cut out. It would also mean that Max would be given the role of “the Peddler.” Unlike the role of Ali Hakim, this character would have a much smaller presence in the plot, and Max wouldn’t get to sing a solo in the show. Such a move reeks of erasure and discrimination.
There is no reason why such a thing should have happened. What makes the situation all the more perplexing is that the school previously performed Oklahoma in 2014 without any issues. In addition, Max had taken part in school productions over the previous three years, and nobody raised an issue with his participation then. So, this begs the question of why is the show not acceptable when it was done in the past. It also makes one wonder why Max’s involvement is such a difficult issue with the school board now.
One should remember that gender-blind casting has been a common tradition for hundreds of years. In Shakespearean England, there was a rule about women not being allowed onstage, because it was deemed “inappropriate” for women to act in theatre productions. Due to this rule, for example, the female leading roles in Romeo and Juliet were played by men, and the role of Juliet was played by a boy. Later shows would feature a woman playing Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. More recently, productions of The Tempest have featured the role of Prospero to be rewritten as the sorceress Prospera, such as Helen Mirren’s performance in the 2010 film
adaptation. King Lear has been performed with women playing the title role. Furthermore, there are modern shows that feature gender-blind casting. Ever since its debut, stage productions of Peter Pan cast a female soprano in the title role, to have a soprano singer who can hit the score’s high notes.
At a tense school board hearing on November 17th, Max and the other students defended their right to perform the show as it was meant to be. In the end, the board members voted 7-0 in favour of letting the musical continue. Mr. Johnston issued a rather back-handed apology “to anyone who might have been hurt”. Even so, it feels like a scripted PR statement instead of a real apology to Max and the other kids. Not only did Johnston misgender and humiliate the student, he unnecessarily put a target on the boy’s back and unfairly singled him out.
Thankfully, the Sherman High School controversy has been resolved. Max has won back his role, and the production of Oklahoma is scheduled to be staged from January 19-21 2024. There is also talk about Bennett being replaced as school superintendent, but Johnston remains in his position as the principal. School trustees have since voted to remove Bennett from supervising the fine arts program indefinitely. The Dallas Morning News reported Hightower’s father calling the trustee’s decision “a good start.” However, it does make one worry about LGBTQA individuals in Texas. Other trans kids don’t have the same support as Max and his family, and bigotry is still very much a thing that exists in this world.
Phillip Hightower agrees there is still a lot of work to be done. Regarding Bennett’s removal from the fine arts program, he still regards him as a threat to LGBTQA youth. “It’s great that he won’t interact with the fine arts,” Hightower told the Texas Tribune in an interview. “But what about all the other students?” These words are still relevant, even after the controversy over Oklahoma has settled down.
On a side note, a local high school in New Brunswick once did a production of the musical Hairspray years ago. Early on in production, the director made a questionable decision to remove the Civil Rights perspective and integration plot, thus reworking the show into being a story about pop music versus country music. Talk about completely missing the point of diversity and representation! Luckily, the students protested by lobbying to do the beloved musical, and Hairspray was performed as it was meant to be done.
Sounds like bone-headed moves are happening everywhere- even in Canada. Go figure.
