2008 Woodie Awards
Childree: JSU Show Choir strikes wrong chord
Zach Childree
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Opinion
On Friday, April 11, I attended a JSU Show Choir performance. The show was a mash-up of tunes from Broadway shows. Being a musical lover myself (no comments about stereotypes please), I figured it would be a fun show to see. Then the choir got to the song "La Vie Boheme" from the musical Rent. I've heard the song many times and was astounded to hear the show choir sing a version completely devoid of any "boheme."
Anything that might have been considered offensive was simply cut out of the song. They might as well have changed the lyrics to being about puppies and kittens.
If you've never seen Rent, let me break it down for you — it's not a pretty show.
Jonathan Larson, the writer of Rent, crafted a story about love and loss in the time of AIDS.
His musical featured gay and lesbian characters — when it wasn't very popular. Rent is essentially gay and lesbian literature. It portrays gays and lesbians honestly and doesn't skimp on the ramifications that HIV/AIDS has had on our community.
As I labored through the song, it dawned on me that there was another reason this edited, censored version felt wrong: All the "gay" parts were cut out too. Because Rent deals with issues that don't make for good jazzy musical numbers.
Ripping all the queer parts out of queer literature isn't a new concept. Tennessee Williams had to hide his gay characters from audiences using subtle nuances and slang that only those "in the know" would recognize.
But, this isn't the 1950s.
We don't have to hide gay characters from audiences anymore. If the song was so offensive that the JSU Show Choir had to shave off most of "La Vie Boheme," then why perform it?
I understand that Dr. Renee Baptiste, the director of the choir, didn't edit the song herself. It was bought from a company that publishes music arranged for show choirs.
Still, I think choosing to perform such a betrayal of queer literature was a poor choice.
If the choir had performed a song from Ragtime with the parts about black people cut out, there would be outrage.
Imagine The Diary of Anne Frank without Jews, or The Lion King with all the references to Africa cut out.
It's that level of betrayal.
I hope that, in the future, all groups — on this campus and off — will take this into account when doing songs from Rent, or any other musical.
If you can't portray the spirit of the song and stay true to it's meaning, don't do the song at all.
Anything that might have been considered offensive was simply cut out of the song. They might as well have changed the lyrics to being about puppies and kittens.
If you've never seen Rent, let me break it down for you — it's not a pretty show.
Jonathan Larson, the writer of Rent, crafted a story about love and loss in the time of AIDS.
His musical featured gay and lesbian characters — when it wasn't very popular. Rent is essentially gay and lesbian literature. It portrays gays and lesbians honestly and doesn't skimp on the ramifications that HIV/AIDS has had on our community.
As I labored through the song, it dawned on me that there was another reason this edited, censored version felt wrong: All the "gay" parts were cut out too. Because Rent deals with issues that don't make for good jazzy musical numbers.
Ripping all the queer parts out of queer literature isn't a new concept. Tennessee Williams had to hide his gay characters from audiences using subtle nuances and slang that only those "in the know" would recognize.
But, this isn't the 1950s.
We don't have to hide gay characters from audiences anymore. If the song was so offensive that the JSU Show Choir had to shave off most of "La Vie Boheme," then why perform it?
I understand that Dr. Renee Baptiste, the director of the choir, didn't edit the song herself. It was bought from a company that publishes music arranged for show choirs.
Still, I think choosing to perform such a betrayal of queer literature was a poor choice.
If the choir had performed a song from Ragtime with the parts about black people cut out, there would be outrage.
Imagine The Diary of Anne Frank without Jews, or The Lion King with all the references to Africa cut out.
It's that level of betrayal.
I hope that, in the future, all groups — on this campus and off — will take this into account when doing songs from Rent, or any other musical.
If you can't portray the spirit of the song and stay true to it's meaning, don't do the song at all.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 13
Dave Hastey
posted 4/17/08 @ 9:13 PM CST
Are you really trying to equate gays, lesbians, and their chosen lifestyle with the Jewish people of Nazi Germany, or African culture and nature? I can't imagine that one would truly see the correlation. (Continued…)
Caitlin Turecek
posted 4/18/08 @ 7:50 PM CST
Well thank you for your incredibly biased and single-issued feedback. As one of the members of Encore!, it surprised me to see that out of all the songs we did, you only critiqued one song just because you're upset that "mucho masturbation" was cut out. (Continued…)
Zach C
posted 4/19/08 @ 2:03 AM CST
Mr. Hastey,
I appreciate your comments, but I believe you are operating under the misinformation that gay people (or straight people for that matter) choose their sexual orientation. (Continued…)
Amber Conaway
posted 4/20/08 @ 6:21 PM CST
You have obviously missed the entire point of the show RENT. It is not about homosexuality; it is about dealing with the devastation of AIDS. Jonathan Larson wrote RENT in memory of his friends, both gay and straight, who died from this disease. (Continued…)
Caitlin Turecek
posted 5/16/08 @ 1:48 AM CST
From metrolyrics.com:
Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion
Creation, vacation, MUCHO masturbation
I replied to your original post before remembering who you are. (Continued…)
Jasmin
posted 7/22/08 @ 10:07 AM CST
I recently watched the movie RENT, and found it to be very enjoyable... and hate that I didn't see it earlier. Anyway, if I attended the performance I would have been disappointed. (Continued…)
Terry T
posted 8/13/08 @ 10:24 AM CST
How sad, one song that you wrote an article on and the person in charge of the choir actually made no changes to the text provided. Please stop looking for anything to push your agenda on other people. (Continued…)
Clark Barron
posted 8/26/08 @ 12:16 PM CST
One has to realize that opinions are strictly that. Of course Mr. Childree is biased. He's gay. Is there a problem with stating his biased opinion in an opinion article? I think we are all intelligent enough to not have to seriously considering the possible answers. (Continued…)
Clark Barron
Clark Barron
posted 8/26/08 @ 12:19 PM CST
One has to realize that opinions are strictly that. Of course Mr. Childree is biased. He's gay. Is there a problem with stating his biased opinion in an opinion article? I think we are all intelligent enough to not have to seriously considering the possible answers. (Continued…)
Caitlin Turecek
posted 9/01/08 @ 2:33 AM CST
I must say I'm impressed with all the hullaballoo this article started. Now that we've started a new season with new songs that will hopefully be less offensive to the audience, let's just let this one go, okay? This is just ridiculous. (Continued…)
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