Trying to stage "The Laramie Project," a documentary play about the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard, turned into a saga of its own for the drama students of Burbank's John Burroughs High School when their principal banned the production and they went ahead with it anyway in an off-campus venue.
Nicole Carothers, a Burroughs senior, says she proposed the show last fall as a joint effort of the drama class and the school's Gay Straight Alliance. But after winter break, she learned that Principal Emilio Urioste Jr., finishing his ninth year as principal at the 2,600-student campus, had prohibited the play. Drama teacher Scott Bailey says the reason Urioste gave him in January was that it "would tear this community apart," a claim Urioste denies.
"I watched my dream fly out the door," Carothers said last week. "I couldn't believe what was happening."
Taking matters into their own hands, the students pushed ahead, securing the Colony Theatre, where the show will play Thursday and Friday, attracting unexpected high-profile support and, eventually, the blessing of the principal for what remains an independent production not sanctioned by the school.
Carothers and her fellow students began to see a way to realize their dream in late March when they learned they had won a $500 California Teachers Assn. grant for "The Laramie Project." The Gay Straight Alliance had applied for the funding last fall, anticipating it would be all right to do the play at school. Now they had the wherewithal to try to rent an off-campus Burbank venue. They approached the Colony, not knowing the company had staged an acclaimed production of "The Laramie Project" in 2002 -- the play's Los Angeles premiere. Managing Director Trent Steelman said the Colony is providing its 276-seat theater rent-free, along with costumes, props, programs and help with sound and lighting.
The students, who rehearsed the play on Carothers' back patio, dubbed themselves the Don't Tell Bailey Theatre Company in honor of their drama teacher -- who could not be involved because it wasn't school-sanctioned -- and started to advertise the play via e-mail and a MySpace site. Last week, that brought an unexpected bonus: Leigh Fondakowski and Kelli Simpkins, two of the creators of "The Laramie Project" as members of the Tectonic Theater Project, decided to join the 23 cast members for three days of rehearsals this week, flying in from New York City and Chicago.
