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By Kenneth Jones
A free outdoor production of the Tony Award-winning musical Ragtime in a
suburban park in Wilmette, IL, was canceled by officials over concerns
about the racially-charged language in the script and score.
The staging, set to play the outdoor Wallace Bowl in Gillson Park, part
of the Wilmette Park District in suburban Chicago, was already in
rehearsals by the company of more than 40 when they got their notice.
According to the Pioneer Press, on June 25 Wilmette Park District
executive director Tom Grisamore canceled the show because he was
concerned that passersby on the park grounds who did not know the
context of the show would take offense to the word "nigger," which is
used several times in the script and score of the history-steeped show
about racism, community, family and justice.
Opening night at the open-air Wallace Bowl in Gillson Park was set for
July 10.
"We had grave concerns that people would take the language they heard
over the amplified sound system out of context from a performance that
was being held in the bowl," Grisamore told the Pioneer Press.
Grisamore took the heat for this decision, telling the paper, "This is
something we very honestly should have known about and hopefully we
could have acted on this sooner, but we did as soon as we found out what
was there."
The district got the rights to the show in January, but the content of
the show was not examined until recent days.
Playbill.com learned that a June 17 letter to the show's licensing
agent, Music Theatre International, asked for changes in the script, and
even included suggestions from Robert Bierie, performing arts supervisor
of Wilmette Park District. MTI president Drew Cohen, who denied the
right to change a word of the show, told Playbill.com that the
Bierie-signed request suggested the no-less-offensive (out of context)
words "darkie," "coon" and "boy" in lieu of the n word.
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"I find this sad and also hilarious," Ragtime lyricist Lynn Ahrens told
Playbill.com June 27. "It seems to sum up the blind ignorance of people
who sit busily cherry-picking bad words, while not even bothering to
read the script they are producing to understand its ideas or the
context in which these words are spoken. We authors have always said
that if people were uncomfortable producing the show, they shouldn't
produce it. We feel the language is accurate and honest in the context
of the era, and im****tant to preserve. That hasn't stopped Ragtime from
being produced in numerous theatres, high schools and colleges, where
the heads of these institutions don't underestimate the intelligence of
their audiences, whether comprised of children or adults, nor feel the
need to censor and protect them from their own national history."
Equity actor Ty Perry, who was directing the production, said in an
earlier Pioneer Press interview, "You take that word out of this story
and you invalidate my history as an African-American male. Do I like the
word? No. But to pretend nobody said it is wrong. I wouldn't even
consider [changing the script]. Context is everything, and it's not
gratuitous, it's not for shock value."
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Ahrens added, "My condolences to Mr. Perry, the artistic company, and to
the citizens of Wilmette, who've been denied an op****tunity to
experience an exciting and thought-provoking show."
The actors of the Wilmette park production are not paid, but members of
the creative team are.
MTI licenses a full version of Ragtime and a shorter amended version,
but the race-related language remains in both. If high schools attempt
it, a study guide is sent along to help stimulate discussion in the
community.
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