Teens and theatre/drama-Lil' Abner

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My three daughters, ages 13-17, really enjoy performing in a local youth theatre group that puts on musical theatre shows. The upcoming show is Lil’ Abner. For those familiar with this show (or at least the movie) you know that there may be some issues with modesty in the costumes and maybe a few other content issues. The director has assured me that she will make sure me and MY children are comfortable with our costumes, but I’m sure Daisy Mae and Stupefyin’ Jones (roles my children aren’t auditioning for) will not be modestly clothed (according to my Catholic standards). Being a kids show, I do think the costuming will be tamer than the movie.

Now, Lil’ Abner is a satire based on the comic strip of the same name. I do not think that it is glorifying immorality or corruption, but rather exposing it and ridiculing certain aspects of society. For example, there is an underlying message about the emptiness of focusing on the appearance of a person. Still, being practicing Catholics, all us girls are wondering if this show is OK for them to do. We love our Lord and do not want to give bad example or scandal.

My thinking so far is that the good that will come from their doing this show will outweigh any bad and that no souls will be in danger from this, but if anyone has (name removed by moderator)ut it would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.
 
Li’l Abner! I starred as Mammy Yokum back in High School. 🙂 I has spoken! 😃

Anyway, I didn’t see anything too risque except for one little part. Honestly, it wasn’t that scandalous anyway because it’s about a group of wives complaining about their husbands lack of … drive, so to speak. It deals with married individuals. SPOILER ALERT!!! After the husbands transform into handsome men, they become cold and distant to their spouses and no longer want to perform the marital act. The wives beg the scientists to “Put them back, the way they was!” The lyrics are a little racy, but nothing R-rated or anything. Your youngest is thirteen, right? I think a quick explanation that the song is referring to married couples would suffice. It doesn’t promote fornication in any way.

When my school performed Li’l Abner, we still had to adhere to the county dress code. No short-shorts, no low-cut tops, no bare midriffs. You can look “country” without immodesty. The girl who portrayed Stupefyin’ Jones wore a spaghetti strap black dress (knee-length) with a shawl around her shoulders. So, she was covered.

I think you and your daughters will be fine. Enjoy the show… and I has spoken! 😃 (Now I have all the songs running through my head.)
 
Li’l Abner is a very deep and significant musical. You are extremely fortunate to be in a school where the drama teacher is willing to take on this musical. Don’t opt out. You may never have this chance again. A lot of high school drama coaches don’t have the nerve to take this show on.

In a play, the actors are not playing themselves, they’re playing other people. Acting gives a person an opportunity to truly get inside of someone else’s skin, and this leads to understanding of why other people think and behave the way they do. More empathy for others is the result, and this is a good thing for Christians. It helps us to understand others and that’s important as we try to love them into the Kingdom of God.

Obviously the question is, “How far can a Christian go when portraying an evil or even a foolish character?” Keep in mind that it’s not YOUR children dressing immodestly or doing something sinful on the stage. It’s the character that they are playing. If they do an authentic portrayal, it will lead to better understanding and empathy. If they are not true to the character (e.g., instead of saying the bad word, they use a more socially-acceptable word, or instead of wearing the skanky outfit, they wear a more modest outfit), it muddies understanding and can actually lead to a tolerance of sin, as people think, “Oh, that character isn’t that evil after all.”

My daughter is a professional stage manager, BTW, and received her B.A. from a Christian college, and is currently working on a M.F.A. at a very non-Christian college.
 
I don’t know that show very well, but I’ve found that the elementary and middle schools around here do “junior” versions of broadway shows, but the highschools and community theaters do the whole thing. Of course exact costuming, choreography, and staging will vary according to the director. Since you know the director and you are not auditioning for the parts you are concerned about, I say do the show. It sounds like fun!!
 
Community theatre is not the place I would let my impressionable children hang out. Sexual immorality is rampant, homosexuality is normal, the language and actions backstage are far from Christian friendly.

I spent years in community theatre, and if you are allowing your children or teens to be there, be with them all the time, at every rehersal, at every cast and crew party, backstage during the show - be there!
 
Well as someone who has been in community theatre for years, allow me to say that not every community theatre is like that. We have families participating and when children are involved we are concerned for their well-being.

Any sexual immorality I’ve seen in the theatre was an offshoot of the community (IOW, the two techs – older married woman, younger single music teacher in the Catholic school – were having an affair before they came to us). Homosexuality? One director was gay – outside the theatre he was a teacher in the Catholic school.
 
kage_ar said:
Community theatre is not the place I would let my impressionable children hang out. Sexual immorality is rampant, homosexuality is normal, the language and actions backstage are far from Christian friendly.

I spent years in community theatre, and if you are allowing your children or teens to be there, be with them all the time, at every rehersal, at every cast and crew party, backstage during the show - be there!
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This is inaccurate. I agree with Phemie that much community theater is extremely family-friendly. Community theater depends on support from the community, especially from families with children and teenagers. If they lose that support through allowing immoral behavior to flourish or by glorifying immoral behavior, they’re dead in the water. No more volunteers, no more audience, no more funding, crickets.

Regional theater, perhaps, might be a little more questionable, although it depends on the theater. The one in our city is run by a Christian couple and is absolutely family-friendly.

We also have several children’s theater programs that are run by Christians–safe as a CCD class.

For Christians, theater is a calling, IMO. From an early age (around age 3), my older daughter was drawn to the theater. She has several personality traits that make her an ideal theater professional–she’s extremely outgoing, personable, and well-organized.

She’s also tactful, polite, and always respectful of actors, musicians, technies, Union members, producers, directors, etc. But she’s willing to speak up for what is right.

Somehow, she knows how to deal with “questionable” people without offending them and without compromising her faith. I think God has given her this ability and that’s why she ended up as a theater professional (stage manager). She is using the gift that God gave her for the purpose for which He created her.

She lives in California now, and last year, Proposition 8 was the big thing among theater professionals. EVERYONE supported the homosexual lobby. My daughter did not.

She has many homosexual friends and even collaborated with a writer/director to write and produce a piece of theater called “Seven Passages: The Stories of Gay Christians.” (It’s an excellent piece and if you’re interested, you can find information on Google.)

But as a Christian and as a Catholic Christian (she converted a few years after we converted), she does NOT support gay marriage.

So she had to walk a very fine line last year to keep her place in the theater and yet not compromise the teachings of the Church.

At one point, one of her gay friends was bashing the conservatives and telling my daughter that he would just like to run them over with his car. She said to him, “I thought Proposition Eight was all about love. That doesn’t sound very loving to me. That sounds pretty violent.”

The conversation developed into a discussion of intolerance on BOTH sides, and the gay and homosexual people involved in the discussion admitted that they have been intolerant and that if they are true to Proposition Eight and love, they can’t become intolerant of or violents towards conservatives just because they disagree with them.

Never a mention of my daughter’s political point of view. In fact, the discussion earned the respect of others, who now see her as a voice of reason, peace, and love. (Blessed are the peacemakers.)

My daughter believes that Christians in theater act as very real SALT to keep the theater flavored decent and moral.

E.g., last year she was stage managing a play about child porn. At one point, one of the actors said, “I believe I could get into this scene more if I had some real child porn to read on stage, rather than this fake prop child porn.”

(He was a method actor–yechh! Stay away from that and tell your kids to stay away from that!)

My daughter calmly told him no, it’s illegal to possess child porn, even for theatrical purposes, and you cannot do this in the show. She suggested that he pretend that the prop was real porn. After all, that’s what actors do–they “pretend.”
 
I am sure that there are a few small theatre groups in the US that are 100% Orthodox Catholic with no immorality.

Those I have seen (in small towns and cities), half of the actors are openly gay, the majority of the behind-the-scenes folks are gay. The straight people are living in immorality - those who are not are mocked or looked at as some sort of endearing freak. The board members are nice “rich folks” who consider themselves to be more chic by celebrating homosexuality.

I used to teach stage presentation, I have gay friends. I am not saying I am somehow afraid or shun those in alternative lifestyles.

Some people grow up chewing on pancake makeup and remain faithful and true, that is the exception and not the rule.

It would be silly for a parent to drive up to Anywhere USA Little Theatre, drop off the kids and hope for the best. Mom and or dad should be there, at auditions, at rehersals and backstage until they are certain they have found a the same kind of good moral Christian actors that some of our posters have found.
 
Christian Youth Theater (CYT) is a nationwide organization that is VERY family friendly. I would highly reccomend it.
 
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