‘Bat Boy’ Musical Will Fly, Promises LCUSD Board

There is an old adage in theater that no matter what happens, “The show must go on.” This saying was put to the test on Tuesday night at the La Cañada Unified School District Board of Governors meeting.

The meeting room in La Cañada High’s Instructional Resource Center at the school library was filled to overflowing with students and adults who had gathered to express their opinions about LCHS’s upcoming spring play, the controversial musical “Bat Boy,” which some residents wanted canceled.

After nearly two hours of listening to the public, the board unanimously agreed to allow production to continue on the play with changes that would tone down or eliminate the play’s shocking elements.

“Bat Boy” ruffled a few feathers in the community when it was learned that the production, written by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, contained elements that some people might find offensive.

Some residents called for the play to be yanked from the schedule and, in phone calls and e-mails to district and high school officials, questioned drama teacher Gale Caswell’s choice for her final production before retiring and LCHS principal Mike Leininger’s decision to allow the play to be performed.

In a short report before the public was allowed to spoke, Leininger explained that he had read the play, made some suggestions about how it could be modified for presentation on the LCHS stage and discussed them with Caswell, who agreed to the changes. The school board also approved these changes.

That wasn’t enough for some residents who wanted production on the play halted with only about five weeks before it was scheduled to open.

But, if there was any doubts that the play, which contains elements of incest, rape, graphic murder and bestiality, would strike out in La Cañada Flintridge, they were soon alleviated by the outpouring of student, parent and other adult support at the board meeting.

Since the play was not on the board’s agenda, it had to be brought up during the meeting’s public comment section. Most of the nearly two dozen people who spoke asked the board not stop the play. They said they considered it an infringement on freedom of speech and censorship if the board canceled the production. They said the play, despite its shocking elements, is funny and sends the message that people should be tolerant of those who are different from them.

However, there are other residents like Robin Paige who thinks the play isn’t making any positive influences on high school youths. She is lodging a public complaint against the district to protest the selection of the play.

In her complaint, she said, “In January our 15-year-old daughter attended the first student meeting for the La Cañada High School all-school musical “Bat Boy: The Musical.” Our daughter volunteered to read the part of Shelley Parker in the second half.”

Her daughter also heard scenes read from the first play of the play which contained several controversial elements. “Due to the deviant sexual content and the extreme violence of the script, our daughter was uncomfortable and fearful and chose not to be in the school play,” the complaint read.

Paige said in a telephone interview that in order to judge the play fairly, she had read the script and attended a San Diego State production of it in March. After doing this, she said she still didn’t think the play was appropriate for LCHS and that the students who read the script at school, without parental notification, had been exposed to harmful and deviate material.

“There are subliminal, underlying messages in this play, sexual underlying messages,” she said. She said she wanted to lodge a public complaint because she wanted to take this matter to the next level. “I wanted the public and the parents to be aware of this,” she said.

One resident who said that she first thought she was going to file a complaint but decided later not to, is Karen Mathison, the first person to speak during the public comment part of the board meeting.

Her main concern was more the site of the play, not so much its content. After reading ‘Bat Boy’ she said she didn’t think that the high school was “an appropriate venue” for the play. She added that the production might be better suited for an “advanced drama class,” not a high school one.

Another parent, Belinda Randolph, was among those who objected to the play, but her objection was one of method, not content. “I am not conservative, I grew up in San Francisco,” she told the audience. Randolph didn’t like the idea that a controversial production, such as “Bat Boy,” was chosen as the school play and minors were allowed to read it without notifying the parents about the selection.

But most of the speakers, like LCHS alumni Jason Rivera, were positive and supportive. Rivera, a college student who had Caswell for drama classes at LCHS, began to weep as he expressed his support for the play and for her. “I am deeply devoted to my drama teacher,” he said as his voice started to crack. Rivera said he was “deeply hurt and offended” by the public comments against Caswell.

LCHS student Kara Murphy, who is a member of the cast now rehearsing the production, said “This is a beautiful play” and received a hearty round of applause.

Halcott Thomas, an 80-year-old World War II veteran, said he and his wife have lived in LCF for more than 50 years and have sent their four children through the local school system. He expressed his disapproval of the play with a single sentence. “The four-letter for this play is ‘S-I-C-K,” he said and then sat down to a polite round of applause.

Perhaps the best indication of how the evening went was when the board closed the public comment part of the meeting and called a short recess. Although Caswell attended the meeting, she didn’t speak. But, when board President Ron Dietel hit the gavel announcing the recess, Caswell was mobbed by both students and adults who wanted to show their appreciation of what she has accomplished as a drama teacher at LCHS.