Play Cancelled, Crowd Protests

Is the play "West Side Story" a timeless musical classic or a dated work filled with demeaning ethnic stereotypes?

The question is the subject of a hot debate in Amherst, Massachusetts, following the Amherst Regional High School's cancellation of a student production of the play.

About 100 people rallied on the Town Common on Sunday to protest the cancellation, which came in the wake of complaints from parents and students that the musical demeaned Puerto Ricans.

"I admit there are problems. There's racism, but by not doing the play, it's not solving the problem. It's just being covered up," said Jeff Rothenberg, 17, a senior at the high school, and one of the handful of students who turned out for the rally.

Other speakers included state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, Selectman Hill Boss and William Newman, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Western Massachusetts chapter.

"I think that denying the community the opportunity to see the play is wrong. It's wrong in a democratic society," said Rosenberg. "You shouldn't seek to silence different points of view and that's what's happening here."

Speaking from Boston, John Roberts, director of the ACLU in Massachusetts told CBS.com, "It's similar to a librarian pulling a book from the shelf of the library, because some person or group decides they don't like it or it's offensive."

"If Amherst had decided to produce the Merchant of Venice, and a Jewish group said well, 'It's offensive to Jews,' and then they say, 'Oh, we're not going to do it.' It's similar to that."

But not everyone saw it that way.

"The Latinos are basically put down in the play and are strongly stereotyped," said Orlando Sola-Gomez, 49, an Amherst resident of Puerto Rican descent whose daughter attends the high school.

He said he was grateful the school opted not to perform the play since Latino students at the high school are stereotyped already and the play would only have made matters worse.

"It's the first step to show consideration," he said.

"Minorities are feeling under siege," said Rashna Singh, an English professor at Holyoke Community College, whose daughter is a junior at the high school.

She said she thought it was unfortunate the cancellation had evolved into a free speech debate. She said perhaps the play could have been performed with discussions afterwards about its problems.

Roberts also thinks a discussion after the play would have been a good idea.

"I think the school reacted too quickly. They tried to do the right thing. They wanted to be culturally sensitive to a minority, they want to be inclusive. This was not mean-spirited in any way. But it was a moment when the school had a marvelous educational opportunity here to really discuss the role of art, the role of theater, to talk about censorship, to show the value of the first Amendment," Robets said.

Senior Abby Loeb, 17, said she watched the play a few weeks ago in her Spanish class, and it has been a favorite of hers since she was a child. She said she took away a message of cooperation from the story.

"I think it's a good play, it shows a great message," she said.

The debate began several weeks ago when a parent complained about the choice and escalated when a student presented the local school committee with a petition, signed by 158 students who objected to what they said were negative stereotypes of Puerto Ricans.

School officials replaced the musical with "Crazy for You," a 1990s rewrite of the 1930 musical "Girl Crazy" by George and Ira Gershwin.