Spencerport cancels high school musical

Spencerport school administrators say their decision to cancel this year's musical production, "Flower Drum Song," was not an easy one to make, nor was it made quickly. According to High School Principal Gerald Bucklin, "We have known since last spring that it was going to be difficult, if not impossible, to have the production. There were many critical pieces that came into play."

"We had a discussion with the construction manager about when the stage would be usable. The stage at Cosgrove was converted into two temporary classrooms while that school was under construction. We tried to see if construction could be accelerated so we could have a spring musical."

In addition, according to Bucklin, Superintendent Phillip Langton made several calls around the area to see if the production could be done at some remote location. "The Hilton facilities were generously made available to us," Bucklin said, "but it could not be done there because there was no way to hang backdrops there. We had to rent the backdrops from New York City and hang them on bars. Hilton did not have the rigging. We would have had to build the setting and the scenery." Time was a factor in negating that option.

Dramatics Director Pamela Fitzmorris searched out other possible locations. One of them was Monroe Community College. However, they would charge about $5,000. Bucklin said they discussed whether enough of the community would attend to make that investment worthwhile. The conclusion was that having it at that location would be a "difficult sell." Other possibilities were explored including facilities at Roberts Wesleyan College and SUNY Brockport. However, some places couldn't be used due to scheduling conflicts and others were "out of our league financially," Bucklin said.

"As late as September," Bucklin said, "we were still unsure about the production. The staff shared their concerns with the students with the understanding that it might not happen. They had started casting and planning rehearsals around October, and we got a commitment from Christa Construction that they would be able to get the stage ready, but no sooner than January 24, 2003.

"The timing was bad, Bucklin said. "In March the middle school uses the stage and that left the end of February." It was felt that the students needed a two-week period of time just prior to the production for intense preparation. Many families plan vacations for that week in February when the schools are closed, so that time period would not work. It was also determined that February 14 would not work because that was the start of the school's break.

"We spent hours looking at the calendar," he said. "We need a two-week window to get ready." In April there is another school break and then advance placement exams start in the beginning of May.

"We decided that the only time was February 6, but then there was another problem. Because of the uncertain conditions, the directors had not yet signed a contract with the royalty company for the show." The royalty company has to research the situation before giving rights to the school. Things like who will view the show and other situations must be looked at to determine the price that would be charged.

"We didn't want to sign the contract if we didn't have a venue," Bucklin said. "The royalty company charges about $5,000." The research was done in the spring, but no contract was signed. The company deals a year in advance. Now, because of the time lapse, the company wanted to research the situation again. If the research was not done until after Christmas break, the scores and scripts would not be available until February 1 which was only five days before opening night. It was decided that it would be unfair to the students to have only a week of preparation, according to school officials.

The last straw was the fact that the technical director, who is a parent volunteer, was sent out-of-town by his company. "So," Bucklin said, "we don't have music, we have no opportunity to rehearse and we have no technical director. We did not want to take the chance on embarrassing the kids (by not giving them the support needed for a successful production)."

Bucklin said a forum will be held on February 10 at 6:45 p.m. in the East Cafeteria of the high school to give people all the information and also to offer opportunities for the rest of the year. He said that one idea would be to have a talent show. This would not necessitate the extensive preparation that a musical production would require. The student participants were specifically invited to the forum in letters sent to their homes, and it is open to the public as well.