Some schols in Texas are cancelling school trips to see a children's play because the actors are allegedly cross-dressing in... James and the Giant Peach.

The characters are insects. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/article

ARTS & CULTURE
Houston-area schools scrap field trips to see ‘James and the Giant Peach’ over concerns about cross-gender casting at Main Street Theater

Schools from Spring Branch ISD, along with local religious schools, are among those to cancel planned visits to watch theatrical performances of the famed children’s story.

ADAM ZUVANICH | POSTED ON APRIL 27, 2023, 5:11 PM



Pictured is the cast for “James and the Giant Peach,” which is being performed through May 19, 2023, at Main Street Theater in Houston. (Photo courtesy of Main Street Theater)
Nine schools in the Houston area have scrapped planned field trips to watch performances of "James and the Giant Peach" at Main Street Theater, which is attributing the cancellations to overblown and misinformed concerns about cross-gender casting for the famed children's story.

Rebecca Udden, the executive artistic director for the 43-year-old nonprofit theater with two locations in Houston, said schools from Spring Branch ISD as well as local religious schools are among those to have cancelled their upcoming visits to Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston, which is hosting three productions per weekday of "James and the Giant Peach" through May 19. She said schools from Spring Branch ISD already have made field trips to see the show, which started its seasonal run on April 19, with the district saying in a statement Thursday that its pending visits were being cancelled "due to concerns raised about the age-appropriateness of the performance."

Udden said those concerns are “completely ridiculous” and appear to stem from a series of recent Instagram posts implying that one of the characters would be dressed in drag and that school students' parents were not allowed to accompany them to the performances. Udden said parents are welcome to attend if they obtain tickets through school groups but cannot purchase tickets for those children's shows individually, for security reasons, and also said, "We do not do drag in our theater for youth."

Fewer than eight actors portray a total of 20 characters in "James and the Giant Peach," according to Udden, who said some play both male and female roles. Cross-gender casting is a common, longstanding practice at both Main Street Theater and in theater in general, she said.

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