On Tuesday, January 23, attendance at the Board of Education’s routine meeting far surpassed the usual amount. Every chair was filled, people sat on the floor and stood by the wall, and once all of that space was used up, people stood in the hallway outside the door where they could hear and get a glimpse of the speakers. Every single member of the diverse crowd who went up to speak was there as a response to the same issue—the casting of this year’s musical, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
On January 8, two letters were sent to the editor of Tompkins Weekly, both expressing dissatisfaction with musical theater in ICSD. One titled “Conscious Casting” and signed by 26 IHS students, criticized the decision to cast a white girl as Esmeralda, the lead female character in the musical who is a member of the oppressed Romani people. The letter concluded by demanding either the staging of a different show, or redoing auditions for The Hunchback of Notre Dame but with greater effort to recruit a more diverse cast. The other letter, titled “God Help the Outcasts” and written by Prachi Ruina ’19, detailed her experiences as a woman of color in theater in ICSD from seventh grade to her disappointment in the casting decisions made this year. She requested that adults at IHS do more to be inclusive of all students. In the following weeks, more letters were written on the issue, and those in support of trying to address this issue of casting encouraged people to join them at the board meeting on January 23.
At the board meeting, over thirty people spoke in intervals up to (and often exceeding) the full three minutes they were allotted. The first speaker, Christian Henry ’17, a former participant in ICSD theater and current Ithaca College student, offered a defense of theater director Robert Winans, and thanked Winans for providing him and other people of color with support. However, in the following hours, the tone drifted away from being in support of the adults with authority over musical theater in ICSD.
Ruina spoke about her decision to write her original letter, as well as her dissatisfaction with the administration’s response. She along with several other students criticized responses from adults in the district, characterized as threats and acts of intimidation. She reiterated demands to stop the musical.
Maddi Carroll ’18 spoke about instances in which she had faced racism in ICSD, going back to her experience playing the fairy godmother in Cinderella as an eighth grader. “Once we started rehearsals, I was constantly told to act like Queen Latifah, to act sassy, to mimic a black stereotype,” Carroll told the room, before declaring, “I am nothing like Queen Latifah. I am not a black stereotype.” She emphasized that Joey Steinhagen, director of Running to Places Theatre Company, had expressed willingness to direct a new musical. Carroll concluded by singing, “We Shall Overcome,” with the crowd eventually joining in.
Throughout the evening, parents, students, and community members spoke, discussing themes of institutional racism and white privilege. One parent described the status quo as, “‘All lives matter’ casting,” which she suggested in practice meant favoring white children, and many joined in in criticizing the “colorblind casting.”
Emma Ellis ’19, who was cast as Esmeralda, eventually got up to speak, criticizing the choice of musical for having insufficient female parts in addition to the issues already mentioned. She discussed the challenges of being forced to balance school and theater, as well as having this new controversy piled on, which she joined others in saying should have been dealt with a long time ago.
When given their chance to respond, the Board of Education lacked a clearly agreed upon response or a firm stance on what the fate of the musical should be. Finally, Luvelle Brown spoke, addressing institutional challenges faced by the district. “Y’all know how vulnerable it is for a person in this role to stand up in front of everyone in the community and say, ‘I lead an institutionally racist and sexist organization,’ as the superintendent of the year?” he asked, “Because of my deep understanding of what that means, I’m able to say that.” Brown then pointed out the need to change policy, and expressed a need for people to show up to meetings on policy, not just on performing arts. On the issue of the musical, Brown said, “There will be some action. I promise you. Hold me accountable for that,” but other than saying a statement would be released, he did not explicitly say what action would be taken, or take a stance on what the outcome should be.
Since the board meeting, the musical has been canceled. However, the demands of the students do not stop there. The students want Winans removed from his role as director of the Boynton Middle School and Ithaca High School musicals. The students proposed Joey Steinhagen of Running to Places Theatre Company as a replacement. However, the BOE has said, in a statement found on the front page of the ICSD website under “District News,” that the issue is “not about any particular faculty member or ICSD employee.” Instead of the musical, a “collaborative project” is being planned.