Picture this…
A crowd of family, friends and faculty gathers for the opening night of a high school’s latest theatrical undertaking.
This year’s production? Jonathan Larson’s 1996 rock opera, Rent.
It’s a bold move for the 13-17 year-old set, for sure. But handled maturely by the school’s drama department, the approachable musical could prove quite the educational experience for students, shining a spotlight on some heavy, worthwhile issues — addiction, homophobia and AIDS among them.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Related: Straight guy goes on homophobic rant about ‘Sense8’ and the Internet shuts. It. Down.
Now imagine that same crowd beginning to pick up on something that seems… off.
Then it sinks in — this particular school (supposedly) decided to make one huge and unfortunate change: Instead of AIDS, some of the characters have diabetes.
Wait… what?
That’s the story financial writer Chelsea Fagan shared on Twitter, via an admittedly unreliable source — some random bartender:
the other day a bartender told me his high school did a performance of RENT where they couldn't say AIDS so all the characters had diabetes
— Chelsea Fagan (@Chelsea_Fagan) October 6, 2017
Credibility aside, the brand new urban legend went viral, attracting the finest parody Twitter has to offer, such as:
“Excuse me if I'm off track. But if you're so wise. Then tell me, why do you need snacks?”
— Zechariah Harvey (@ZechHarvey) October 6, 2017
But that was just the beginning:
? Would you take my levels? ?
— Nathan L (@njl) October 6, 2017
apparently the characters took "insulin breaks"
— Chelsea Fagan (@Chelsea_Fagan) October 6, 2017
"Insulin break."
"You?"
"Me. You?"
"Mimi….."— Abby Spice, ? Mummy (@clapifyoulikeme) October 7, 2017
? my body provides a comfortable hooome
for Diabetes mellitus high blood sugar syndrome ?— ? rachel slime ? (@rachsyme) October 6, 2017
Sexually transmitted diabetes.
— Jayden K Smith (@DrewLudwig) October 6, 2017
"i should tell you — i've got type two too"
— Elena Nicolaou (@elenawonders) October 6, 2017
Others pointed out these glaringly heinous plot-points pertaining to the switch:
Not even a communicable disease!
— Josh Gondelman (@joshgondelman) October 6, 2017
His girlfriend April left a note saying "We've got diabetes" before slitting her wrists in the bathroom.
Totally understandable reaction.
— Hans-Peter Liebkraft (@Liebkraft) October 7, 2017
And some had RENT horror stories of their own:
? someone once told me their school did it and Maureen and Joanne were just "really good friends".
— Chloe Cate (@chloeedwards__) October 7, 2017
a friend's high school had to remove all the sex references, so it became "monogamy, it's between God and me"…
— Megan Riordan (@meganriordan) October 7, 2017
While one person was reminded of an equally ridiculous Hairspray experience:
I worked at a theatre camp where the (almost entirely white) kids were determined to do Hairspray, so teacher made it about height not race.
— Kit Lovelace (@kitlovelace) October 6, 2017
And this… different take on Fame:
we did a sanitized FAME script where the gay kid instead had no testicles bc cancer. But all-girls school. So,
— Casey S Pumpkins (@Ela_Hadrun) October 7, 2017
so she gave a heartfelt monologue about how her ovaries were removed and she was bullied for being unable to be a mother
— Casey S Pumpkins (@Ela_Hadrun) October 7, 2017
the audience was just plain confused
— Casey S Pumpkins (@Ela_Hadrun) October 7, 2017
Then there was this unthinkable work-around for In the Heights:
my old (very white) high school program did in the heights…….. they spray tanned the cast…………… ?????
— meredith (@meredithawilcox) October 7, 2017
And whatever this is supposed to mean:
One time in a church Christmas musical, someone was offended by the word "rabies" so we had to change it to "babies"
It still confuses me
— Kelsey Leigh ??? (@notkelseyleigh) October 7, 2017
What if the same AIDS/diabetes alteration was applied to Angels in America, you ask?
Imagine a production of Angels in America where Louis can't handle Prior's sugar and carbs intolerance and leaves
— Kendall Jack ? (@captchachacha) October 7, 2017
Roy Cohn berating his doctor. "So say it. Go on Henry, it starts with a… D, and it's not hemophiliac."
— Nicholas V. Pappas (@nickvpappas) October 7, 2017
"Roy Cohn is not a diabetic. Roy Cohn is healthy man, who happens to be sugar intolerant."
— Kendall Jack ? (@captchachacha) October 7, 2017
And… scene.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
“Credibility aside, the brand new urban legend went viral…”
Um, no, I think it’s really important to know if these things are true or not before reporting them. Too much of this shit
BigWill
Also, bartender’s high school play, so story is at a minimum 3 years old. A little late for outrage.
Chris
Has anyone bothered to fact check this story?
mujerado
How do you fact-check what an unknown bartender said about a school the whereabouts of which are unknown? True or not, the story is at least plausible.
stevetalbert
It doesn’t have to be true. Its like a cross between telephone game and pictionary but with scenarios. Everyone passes around a snark comment based on a scenario. Fun for all!! Start a twitter rumor about what if Trump were president.
QuestBear
We also did the sanitized Fame. Montgomery McNeil won the “No-Ball” prize of the year award because he came out after having testicular cancer. It was the 90s in a small town in the south. That’s how the script came pre-edited for high schools. Hilarious.
Ummmm Yeah
Twitter, Facebook, Buzzfeed and the rest of the internet going nuts and getting “shook” over a secondhand rumor is nothing new and isn’t news. It just proves there are a lot of stupid people being manipulated.
Gracie Mansion
Slow news day, huh? “I heard a story from a bartender whose second cousin’s best friend’s dentist said he once attended a Yeshiva production of RENT where…” Puh-leeze. Passing this off as news — even funny news — is just an excuse to make something fake go viral. The danger in this is that when REAL news regarding the LGBTQ community happens, no one covers it. That’s what happens to the little boy who cries “Diabetes!”
Silent_Joe
I understand that in some cases when a school does a production of a play they sometimes have to clean things up. When my high school did The Odd Couple, they removed all the swearing, Oscar drank soda instead of beer, and his cigar smoking was replaced with gum chewing (I still have qualms about it, but I understand why). But when you feel you need to change what is a pivotal part of the story, maybe you should do a different play instead.
NateOcean
Acute Insulin Dependent Syndrome?
mujerado
Opprunuties? That’s not even a word!
chris_clb614
G.U.T.L.E.S.S.
greenmusic23f
Mujerado—opprunuties not being a word fits this piece of spam.
stevetalbert
I hate Prunes too. Figures Trump would oike them. Does that stay at home mom sign the main song?? Doesn’t sound like a winber. Gope no one had to pay royalties to Dramatic Publishing? Our Town might have been a better choice. More parts.
larrytopping
I lost 26 of my friends, deaths due to AIDS, btwn 1982 and 1994. During that time, I juggled my hospice work and pallbearer duties w/ care & Tx and outreach & prevention. I remember, when we’d counsel, we often said that being HIV+ shouldn’t be any different than being diabetic … this helped to normalize the illness and remove the sting of stigma. I’d like to believe that these HS kids and their drama teacher were making the same point, showing how ridiculous it would be to be hostel and hateful toward people living w/ diabetes, the contrast being illustrative of the equal absurdity to behave the same way towards PLWA. I think it’s a HUGE leap to a conclusion to ASSUME that they changed the name of the illness because “they couldn’t say AIDS” … and, then, peddle that BS around the Internet to hype some phony assault on PLWA, just for the ‘thrill’ of controversy.
ShowMeGuy
Yeah, keep dreaming of that perfect world.
Brian
You really think it’s more likely that they changed the story to show diabetes as an allegory for how people with AIDS are treated, and hoping people somehow make the connection, rather than just sticking to the original storyline and showing it directly? REALLY?
DawnTrans
This might be the stories origination. On Long Island the Southhold HS put on a production of Rent. This article explains the copyright laws involved in changing the script…you can only do it with the Writers/copyright holders permission. http://www.hesherman.com/2013/12/18/you-cant-rewrite-your-high-school-musical/
DCguy
This seems like a knock off from something the Cheerleading coach said years ago on Glee, talking about the singers performance.
“That was the most offensive thing I’ve seen in twenty years of teaching. And that includes an elementary school production of Hair.”
flipdiving
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StupidBoy
Did it make it more watchable?
I’m sorry, I’ve had friends die of AIDS–some of them I dream that they are still alive and I can talk to them–but personally, I found Rent boring. I watched it once online and fell asleep 1/2 an hour in and woke up in time for the final song.
Now, a high-school production of Jeebus Chriss Wonder Sun or Coif (or is it Mane?) I could watch.
crazycatman
Why do high schools do shows where the material could be deemed inappropriate. I can’t wait to see what Music Theatre International does with this. Are they going to take it to the national scandal level like they did when the theatre professor at Towson University thought she was a better writer than Jonathan Larson and changed the ending so that Mimi did die. MTI sent them an order to restore the show to the original ending or cease and desist.
CandyFloss666
I’m pretty sure this was a plot line of an episode of “Fresh off the Boat”, I mean far be it for me to suggest that Queerty do some fact checking before posting an article, especially on something so appalling!
Knight
LOL!! I caught it too: “Brent”, where all the characters had “colds” (the hilarious part was them sneezing through the songs). Yet again, Queerty doesn’t see they are the butt of another joke.
JamJewel
One would think that Queerty readers would know that the licensing company would never allow that to happen. Just like how no one has ever been allowed to do an authorized/liscensd version of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” with two men, though many have tried to do so. Playwrights demand the work be presented as written. And even before I migrated, I was in rehearsals for a version of James Bladwin’s “Blues for Mister Charlie” and it was also eventually shut down by the licensing company for not meeting certain ‘standards!’ It also reminds me that a sitcom used that story line recently but they had ‘colds!’ and in the end the production was shut down by the licensing company. And that was just a sitcom.