Drama teacher looks at options

Corona del Mar High School drama teacher Ron Martin had planned to put on the Tony-winning musical “Rent” before a much-disputed series of communications with the school administration sunk the production.

But after a group of alumni and students began criticizing the school’s principal, Fal Asrani, and accusing the administration of singling out homosexuality as objectionable, Martin discussed his own side of the story, saying he was told he could not put on the play because of objectionable content.

Monday was Presidents Day, and school officials could not be reached for comment during the holiday. But they have said in media reports that they didn’t cancel the show; they merely asked to look at the script.

Martin said he chose “Rent” because he worried about homophobia on campus and wanted to start a dialogue.

“[Homophobic] things that students were saying to each other seemed to be on the rise,” he said. “I felt this would be a good place to teach the idea of tolerance.”

Martin said he couldn’t see the abridged “high school version” of “Rent” as having any more objectionable content than what normally goes on.

He listed a number of shows he considered to have at least as much adult content as the version of “Rent” he had planned: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” which includes a brothel and prostitutes; “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” which includes an adulterous affair and onstage kissing; “A Streetcar Named Desire” and Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors.”

In the meantime, Martin said he is planning to find a replacement play he can be sure will pass administrative approval.

“The easiest one, and one that I’m fairly certain of working, would be ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,’” he said.