Cherry Hill East Showed Courage With 'Ragtime' Production, World Leader In Musical Theater Says

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Cherry Hill High School East has been awarded the Courage in Theatre Award from Music Theatre International (MTI) for its production of “Ragtime.”

Music Theatre International’s Courage In Theatre Award is bestowed to an organization that uses the power of the arts to affect positive change in their community in the face of adversity.

It is not given annually; instead, it is presented by MTI to an arts organization and its cast and production team that confronts challenges that threaten their ability to explore or express their artistic vision, even if it means taking an unpopular stance.

"We at Music Theatre International were impressed with the maturity, dedication and courage of the Cherry Hill East community not just in persevering with their production of Ragtime but in engaging in thoughtful, often emotional, debate as to the merits of proceeding with the show. In our licensing of a wide variety of musicals to schools around the world, we see many instances where the performers and audiences learn about culture, history and the arts through their productions. At a time where civil and respectful discourse can be difficult to find, we were particularly moved by the Cherry Hill community's in-depth consideration of the issues surrounding this production and ultimately by the decision to use the show as an instrument of education," MTI President Drew Cohen said.

The production raised concerns within the Cherry Hill community due to the inclusion in the script of racial slurs in telling an anti-racism story that is intended to evoke the evolving nature of what it means to be American, blending the stories of white, black, and Jewish characters.

Initially, the school edition of the performance included the use of the racial slur, but it was removed following protests civil rights groups, and a parent who complained.

Following the removal, National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), the Dramatists Guild and the Arts Integrity Initiative at the New School sent a letter to the district, urging it to reverse its decision.
Among the arguments was the one that “unauthorized changes to the script may violate copyright law and licensing agreements.”

In the absence of explicit permission from copyright holders, any modification of the text can lead to a revocation of Cherry Hill High School East’s right to perform the musical, the coalition argued.

Several telephone discussions between the district and MTI, the world’s leading licensor of musical theatre, ensued, and this fact was confirmed.

After that, the school district announced the word would be re-inserted into the script.

Written by the award-winning composer/lyricist team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, noted playwright Terrence McNally, and based on E.L. Doctorow's distinguished novel, “Ragtime” is a 1998 Tony Award winner and has been adapted for high school performers.

Set in the volatile melting pot of turn-of-the-century New York, three distinctly American tales are woven together -- that of a stifled upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant and a daring young Harlem musician -- united by courage, compassion and belief in the promise of the future. Together they confront history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and what it means to live in America.

“My late husband, E. L. Doctorow would, I am sure, applaud the courage and wisdom of the Cherry Hill High School students who have championed the cause of fidelity to art and truth,” Helen Doctorow, widow of author E.L. Doctorow, said in a statement issued by MTI.

"Ragtime is a story of our beloved country -- its glories, its follies and its gross wrongs. Doctorow’s vision of America is human and humane. There are good people and bad people in Ragtime but above all there are people trying to do the right thing, no easy task in a country then, as now, still in the process of defining itself. Cherry Hill’s thoughtful, respectful and emotional community discourse was a vision of our country at its very best. We applaud the community of Cherry Hill for voicing deeply-held concerns on all sides. We thank the educators for their willingness to listen, and to consider every argument. And bravo to the students for their articulate brilliance and commitment. The theater is a better place everyone who took part," McNally, Ahrens and Flaherty said in a joint statement.

Cherry Hill Superintendent of Schools Joseph Meloche told njpen.com that the award was a unique way of recognizing the challenging discussion the school district has taken on to the benefit of the community beyond the experience that takes place in the theater.

Previous winners of the Courage in Theatre Award include the students and teachers of Green Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nevada for moving forward with their 2010 production of “Rent,” despite resistance from community members who objected to issues of sexuality and drug use in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical.

In 2012, the Award was presented to the special needs students of New York City’s The Spectrum School, P94M for writing and producing an original musical “A Powerful Day,” depicting the performers' own life experiences as "differently abled" children.

Patch file photo