New Directions

( No day but today... )

"Lisa Andrews, Channel 5 News, reporting from The Wyld West Gentleman's Club, where a group of local teens have been mounting a production of the Broadway musical, 'RENT.' The production has not been without controversy, however, and religious groups in the area have been protesting the show since rehearsals began.

And now, another setback has occurred. A fire broke out earlier this evening. As you can see, fire crews have it under control, but the questions still remain: was the fire an accident? Or something more sinister? And will the show go on?"

OOC: Feel free to have your character 'interviewed' or provide 'sound bites' for the news story. Have fun with it!

To the Editor:

I would like to respond to Ms. Freeman's letter of the 10th, and as a father with a daughter in said production of RENT, I would like to challenge some of her points.

I must admit to having been ignorant of the musical in question before my 15-year-old daughter came home, so excited over possibly being able to do this musical with her friends. Being a parent who wanted to support his daughter and also find out more about the things she is interested in, I first rented the 2005 movie adaptation, and then the film of the 2008 final performance.

On the surface, it is easy to say that perhaps Ms. Freeman's assessment of the musical is right, if one did not listen to the music or lyrics, and only focused on the character's lifestyles, whether agreed with or not. But one does not have to agree with the lifestyles to see the universal ideas within the plot: the desire for family, for connection, for love. To have to cope with the loss of a life partner, to cope with terminal illness. The desire to do something lasting, with meaning, for social justice.

Take away the things that might seem strange or objectionable to a person, and you have things that all of us have dealt with or will deal with. While the musical itself may be controversial, the ideas behind it are as old and universal as humankind.

Not so long ago, our teenagers were making decisions about who they would marry, and entering into business relationships or apprenticeships. A summer job at 15 could become a career by 18 for some.

We are doing our children no favors by infantilizing them. The goal of adolescence is to create an adult. If we withhold the opportunities to make adult decisions, how does this happen.

The kids in SLUSHiE are good kids. They have asked for very little adult guidance or help in accomplishing their goals, and have worked tirelessly to bring their dream to fruition. In my opinion, they have earned our respect and trust.

I encourage every free-thinking adult in Lima and surrounding communities to come out to this production. I believe we will all be pleasantly surprised.

Respectfully submitted,

Ned Stride-White, Ph.D.
Lima, Ohio

Somehow, they'd found out that the kids were having a RENT rehearsal today. And so, they came out en masse, with signs in hand, and a rather poorly-thought up chant that fell apart every so often.

A group of about 20 protesters with signs are picketing the Gentlemen's Club, mostly women and men but some teens, as well. Most notably, the teens from the Chastity Club are there, yelling with as much venom as they could muster.

Which, for supposedly devoted Christians, is quite a bit.

The kids wanted to garner attention...they've got it.


[ooc: Feel free to use the gleeklub account to interact with the protesters. NO VIOLENT CONFRONTATIONS! period, end of sentence. The protesters know the law. And no one wants to be arrested.]

Maggie had promised Will Schuester long ago that she would help with the non-musical aspects of the Glee Club, but admittedly had not been very active in that respect. Since she had not been contacted to assist with anything, she assumed that everything was still in the planning stages and her services was not yet needed.

She had, however, kept tabs on the club's doings through her students that were members of the club, and knew from what they had told her that the Glee Club was getting up a production of RENT. She had even known about the TV commercial, and dutifully watched it with a mixture of amusement over their obvious excitement about the production, and wonder at how much kids seemed to be able to accomplish nowadays.

Maggie was not surprised that certain parties in the community would have a strong reaction to the idea. She was also curious as to how the club was dealing with it.

To that end, she sought out Will in the staff lounge the very next day. Spying him sitting by himself at a table, she approached, the newspaper with the offending letter in her hand.

"Will, may I have a word?"

( With posters and screenplays... )