Censorship in Wilmette, IL Closes Production
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URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3254
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Topic: Censorship in Wilmette, IL Closes Production
Posted By: Amos Hart
Subject: Censorship in Wilmette, IL Closes Production
Date Posted: 6/26/08 at 11:52am
The Park District of Wilmette, IL has just shut down a large, expensive production of Ragtime two weeks before opening because a show about racism uses the word "nigger". Go here for details: http://www.nicoth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=936 - http://www.nicoth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=936 http://www.nicoth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=936 - |
Replies:
Posted By: pdavis69
Date Posted: 6/26/08 at 1:55pm
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This is one of the problems that theatres who do not own their own building face; having to answer to the host for content. ------------- Patrick L. Davis Fort Findlay Playhouse |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 6/26/08 at 5:25pm
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I posted a message on the board link you provided. My sincere sympathy for your production...what a terrible waste of time, energy, talent, and dedication. Best wishes for it to proceed at another venue! |
Posted By: B-M-D
Date Posted: 6/26/08 at 6:21pm
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What shame and a perversion this is!!!! Politcal correctness is never correcti!! NEVER!!!! ------------- BD 
"Dying is easy, comedy is hard." |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 6/27/08 at 7:41am
Well, I think that political correctness is well and good - all political correctness does is keep people's feelings from being hurt. Always a good thing IMO. But this is an example of political correctness run amok. Taking a good thing too far is never a good thing IMO. 
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Posted By: pdavis69
Date Posted: 6/27/08 at 8:51am
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I think poilitical correctness has its place and serves a purpose. Had the Park District said no at the very beginning when Ragtime was first put before them as a potential show, I don't think anyone would have batted an eye. I think timing is the issue, not political correctness. ------------- Patrick L. Davis Fort Findlay Playhouse |
Posted By: Amos Hart
Date Posted: 6/29/08 at 7:25pm
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There is now an online petition asking the Wilmette Park District to reinstate their production of "Ragtime". Go here to sign: http://www.petitiononline.com/gilson/petition.html - http://www.PetitionOnline. |
Posted By: TonyDi
Date Posted: 6/30/08 at 7:54am
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Many years ago our Shakespeare In The Park series (in addition to the two bard plays) chose to do PIPPIN in the park....public, anyone could attend free as they always did. Well if you know Pippin it CAN get kind of raunchy - it is by the very nature of the original, pretty racy in places. I mean it is really pretty baudy. And if I'm not wrong I think that was a Fosse choreographed play. THAT being the case, it did have some really well done stuff by standards of musical theater actors and dancers, BUT the Shakespeare Commission here in town got up in arms because of how "racy" it was turning out to be insofar as the choregraphy and content was concerned. Well THEY wanted the director and choreographer to "tone it down" when they had seen the video of the Broadway original, READ THE SCRIPT and knew what it contained. SO the entire cast, crew, staff and even some of the local money supporters and sponsors threatened to shut it down by walking away and NOT doing the show. Meant we would lose time, money and whatever to support KEEPING the show intact as it had been rehearsed. Now while I don't advocate EVER walking out on a show (never have ever) this was a situation where we had put in the time, the work and the effort and people in the community really were looking forward to seeing it. As it turned out, the commission buckled and simply put - got out of the frickin' way and allowed it to go on as planned and rehearsed. AND guess what? It was THE MOST successful show of the summer Shakespeare season, the bard plays were good but NOTHING compared to the musical, it got critical acclaim over and above the bard plays AND MORE people attended THAT show than the other two combined. And guess what else? The commission patted themselves on the back and took the credit for such a successful run of such a great show!!!! But by that point we didn't care. We got paid, the show was a critical and audience success as we KNEW it would be, and it is now a story for another chapter in the book. Typical. SOMETIMES the suits just need to stay the hell out of things and quit trying to dictate what they know little to nothing about.
Sorry they have to deal with such as this over a simple politically charged issue....when it's a show ABOUT racism and how else would they be able to convey those feelings. Hey the author wrote it no? Crickey some people are just too touchy anymore. Sad - another case of wanting to censor the arts.
TonyDi
------------- "Almost famous" |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 7/02/08 at 9:22am
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just found out through my daily mailing from Playbill.com, that this production will probably get an inside production at a local theatre. The furor got them into the New York Times! |