I've been absent for a while because I am working on a new play, "The Music Man". It's about a traveling salesman who tries to persuade gullible people that what their town needs is a boys' band. They pay their money, and by the time the instruments and uniforms arrive, he is long gone. Until he arrives in River City, Iowa. He winds up becoming hopelessly entangled in the lives of the town's inhabitants and finds it not so easy to take the money and run.
Professor Harold Hill's technique is to look around and find--or make up--a problem that threatens the townspeople's moral values. He knows all the right things to say and people fall for it. They don't look any deeper and they don't question why this stranger is suddenly showing so much concern for their community. He tells them "we must keep our young ones moral after school" and paints an alarming picture of the slippery slope they are on by allowing (in this instance) a pool table in town. Professor Harold Hill would have a field day among some of today's "pro-family" Christians, I'm afraid--he'd be raking in their money right and left. He would also find bountiful pickings among the "believe and make it true" crowd, after all, he invented the "Think System", where you don't actually have to study the notes or practice the instrument, just think it and you will soon be playing like a virtuoso! Oh, yes, his method has been adopted by various New Age writers and speakers.
So it was kind of amusing that we lost a couple of cast members because they were offended by some of the language used in the play. Offensive language? In "Music Man", the ultimate clean family-fun show? Well, apparently not so clean. One of the songs contains--twice--the phrase "by God stubborn", and this was too much for these faint hearts. Citing religious beliefs, they said they could no longer participate. And so they left.
Now I am very much aware of the commandment not to take the Lord's name in vain so I can understand where these ladies were coming from. For them, it was a very big deal. However, they were not content when the director offered a compromise: instead of rewriting the song (which they wanted), they could act shocked when the rest of us sang it. It took nearly three weeks of rehearsal before they decided that they simply could not be a part of any production where that kind of language was used. Since we generally have only eight or nine weeks of rehearsal before the show opens, to quit after three weeks, and for a reason you knew about from the start, is, well, it's not very nice to your fellow players. They may think that they are witnessing for Christ. Well, they are--just not in the way they imagine themselves to be. I think it's safe to say they will not be picked at future auditions--if they ever decide to audition again.
But the sad thing is, it is their loss, not ours. I can't say that I can't imagine a life where I would have to make these kind of moral choices, where everything is potentially sinful. As the director said, "I wonder if they even watch TV." I can imagine it because these kinds of people are often the ones who are most fervent in their evangelizing. They would not understand the song that talks about "when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance." Because dancing is sinful. They are choosing to sit it out because that is what their God approves of. In Catholicism that attitude is called scrupulosity and it is not considered a spiritual virtue to be imitated.
And by God--I have had enough of piously sitting on the sidelines! I'm going to dance.
Professor Harold Hill's technique is to look around and find--or make up--a problem that threatens the townspeople's moral values. He knows all the right things to say and people fall for it. They don't look any deeper and they don't question why this stranger is suddenly showing so much concern for their community. He tells them "we must keep our young ones moral after school" and paints an alarming picture of the slippery slope they are on by allowing (in this instance) a pool table in town. Professor Harold Hill would have a field day among some of today's "pro-family" Christians, I'm afraid--he'd be raking in their money right and left. He would also find bountiful pickings among the "believe and make it true" crowd, after all, he invented the "Think System", where you don't actually have to study the notes or practice the instrument, just think it and you will soon be playing like a virtuoso! Oh, yes, his method has been adopted by various New Age writers and speakers.
So it was kind of amusing that we lost a couple of cast members because they were offended by some of the language used in the play. Offensive language? In "Music Man", the ultimate clean family-fun show? Well, apparently not so clean. One of the songs contains--twice--the phrase "by God stubborn", and this was too much for these faint hearts. Citing religious beliefs, they said they could no longer participate. And so they left.
Now I am very much aware of the commandment not to take the Lord's name in vain so I can understand where these ladies were coming from. For them, it was a very big deal. However, they were not content when the director offered a compromise: instead of rewriting the song (which they wanted), they could act shocked when the rest of us sang it. It took nearly three weeks of rehearsal before they decided that they simply could not be a part of any production where that kind of language was used. Since we generally have only eight or nine weeks of rehearsal before the show opens, to quit after three weeks, and for a reason you knew about from the start, is, well, it's not very nice to your fellow players. They may think that they are witnessing for Christ. Well, they are--just not in the way they imagine themselves to be. I think it's safe to say they will not be picked at future auditions--if they ever decide to audition again.
But the sad thing is, it is their loss, not ours. I can't say that I can't imagine a life where I would have to make these kind of moral choices, where everything is potentially sinful. As the director said, "I wonder if they even watch TV." I can imagine it because these kinds of people are often the ones who are most fervent in their evangelizing. They would not understand the song that talks about "when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance." Because dancing is sinful. They are choosing to sit it out because that is what their God approves of. In Catholicism that attitude is called scrupulosity and it is not considered a spiritual virtue to be imitated.
And by God--I have had enough of piously sitting on the sidelines! I'm going to dance.
