9/18/2017 Ohio High School Fires Director for Staging Legally Blonde Musical; Creators and Parents Comment

eators and Parents Comment | Playbill

    NEWS  

Ohio High School Fires Director for Staging

Legally Blonde Musical; Creators and Parents
Comment
BY ADAM HETRICK
DEC 22, 2012

An Ohio high school that red the woman hired to direct

its musicals is reassessing the goals of its drama
program after school administrators expressed concerns
over a production of the Tony Award-nominated musical
Legally Blonde.

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Sonja Hansen
Loveland High School, located 20 miles northeast of Cincinnati, presented a November production of Legally
Blonde, the 2007 stage musical based on the Golden Globe-nominated 2001 lm of the same title.

Sonja Hansen, a local professional dancer and choreographer, was hired by Loveland High to direct the school's
musical productions. In recent years she choreographed Beauty and the Beast and staged productions of Grease
and Seussical there. In November, she directed and choreographed a well-attended production of Legally Blonde.
While she was not a faculty member at the school, parents of Loveland students who spoke with Playbill.com
credited her with re-energizing the theatre program and bringing together students in a productive way.

Legally Blonde is one of the most popular new titles licensed by Music Theatre International and is frequently
produced in high schools across America. A lm of the Broadway production garnered high ratings when it aired
on MTV in 2007, and Music Theatre International is also developing a Broadway Junior version for young
audiences. 

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The Motion Picture Association of America gave the 2001 lm of "Legally Blonde" a PG-13 rating, while MTI rates
the musical property as PG, describing it as a "fun, upbeat musical about self-discovery."

Administrators at Loveland, including high school principal Christopher Kloesz who took over his title in
September, felt differently. Following the rst two performances of Legally Blonde's Nov. 14-18 run, Kloesz
approached Hansen with concerns over presenting the material in a high school setting. Hansen and another
parent at the school told Playbill.com that attempts were made to address issues within the text and staging, and
that a sign was placed in the lobby letting patrons know the production was rated PG. Loveland school
administration, including principal Kloesz and superintendent Dr. John Marschhausen, did not respond to
Playbill.com's requests for an interview.

Students were permitted to nish the run of Legally Blonde (which received standing ovations after each
performance), but Hansen was ultimately reprimanded by the administration, she says, for "going against the
school's code of conduct." Kloesz, according to Hansen, cited "bootie-bounce dance moves" and the use of the
word "skank" in the script. Loveland, along with most schools across the U.S., has a strict no-alcohol policy, and
Hansen was cited for a scene in the musical that includes a champagne party involving a group of buttoned-up
Harvard University students. She pointed out that it was not staged as a rowdy college party.

Of cials were careful about negatively characterizing the courtroom scene "There! Right There!" (also known as
the "Gay, or European" moment), according to Hansen, who noted that the school has an LGBT club. "That issue
was brought up to me verbally, but was not in any written paperwork," she said.

Hansen said she was shocked by the administration's negative reaction to Legally Blonde after the school
produced the full version of Grease in recent years, as well as Beauty and the Beast last spring "with a huge
tavern scene and beer mugs." Students also used real cigarettes as props during a scene in Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. "I didn't hear any complaints," Hansen recalled, noting that the Loveland High
production of Grease, which includes drinking, smoking, sexuality and teen pregnancy in its script, had higher
ticket sales than Legally Blonde. "I never saw anyone leave. We had no one ask for refunds," she said of Legally
Blonde's run.

Complicating matters is the fact that Loveland School of cials approved the musical in
April 2012 when all of the paperwork and contracts were signed and returned to MTI.
None of the Loveland administration asked to review the script prior to signing off on the
show, or attended a rehearsal in the months leading up to the performance. "For eight
months they knew that we were performing Legally Blonde. My rehearsals are open,"
Hansen said. "We rehearsed for three months, four days a week, two hours per rehearsal.
We had three tech rehearsals, two dress rehearsals and two performances before I was
called in to the principal's of ce." Legally Blonde's Tony Award-nominated book writer
Heather Hach Heather Hach, pointed out in an e-mail to Playbill.com, "At the end of Grease, the heroine
Sandy wears less clothes to get her man. At the end of Legally Blonde, our heroine Elle
Woods graduates top of her class from Harvard Law. Now what message do you want your daughter absorbing?"

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Ultimately, the school postponed Hansen's auditions for the spring production of The Will Rogers Follies.
Students, who learned of the news from Principal Kloesz prior to Hansen being informed, began texting their
teacher. Hansen said when she contacted Kloesz on Dec. 12 to ask why auditions for Will Rogers Follies had
been canceled, she was told, "You need to resign or you will be terminated."

Dan Docherty's daughter Abby is a junior at Loveland High and played Elle Woods, the determined blonde heroine
in Legally Blonde. "She loved playing the role," he said. "As far as her experience, this was a dream role. She
absolutely loved it. She had a blast and had no issue with content, or being on stage playing that role." Abby also
played Sandy in Grease at Loveland. "We've had a lot of director turnover there the past ve years and they nally
got someone who the kids loved and adored," he said. "Sonja does it because she loves it. It's not like she's doing
this for the money. She probably puts more into it than she makes. It was very disheartening."

Docherty is also a children's theatre director in the Cincinnati area and admits that there might be content in the
show some individuals might nd "borderline" for high school students. He said he did hear a few parents state
the show was more mature than they anticipated, but nothing that he felt would turn into a formal complaint or
result in Hansen's termination. He added, "I'm also a big believer in allowing the arts to be the arts; that's why
they're great. Parents had the discretion to not bring young kids to it, but lots of people have seen the movie by
now and should understand the show."

Cynthia Bair, whose daughter Makenzie played Enid in the production, shared an e-mail she sent to the
administration. "Ms. Hansen has reinforced the importance of working together, respecting individual
differences, honoring personal commitments, as well as demonstrated the joy and rewards that come with
pursuing and nurturing one's passion. Her investment in our children remains unmatched by any educator I have
encountered thus far in my daughter’s educational experience," she wrote.

Bair is also the mother of three younger children, whom she took with her to see Legally Blonde. She said that any
innuendo that might feel inappropriate would likely go unnoticed by young audience members. She added, "Like it
or not, mature and sensitive themes woven into this performance will eventually touch on the lives of all high
school students in one way or another. It therefore certainly seems reasonable enough to allow high school
students to explore such themes artistically."

Bair also pointed out that Legally Blonde showcases stereotypes (some of which are initially offensive) in order
to shatter them. "Critics were so pathetically dwelling on the irrelevant that they missed the key themes of the
show completely — the importance of perseverance, friendship, and combating the hurtful and oppressive
stereotypes that so ruthlessly plague high school student populations everywhere. Are not these messages
entirely consistent with the CORE values that are drummed into the heads of our students from the time they
enter kindergarten within the Loveland School district?"

School of cials did not agree to parents' request for a meeting. However, Hansen did have
a nal meeting with school of cials Dec. 20 to of cialize the termination of her contract
and announce plans for a "new focus for the Loveland High School drama department to

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include an expansion of dramatic plays, talent shows and musicals." Details were not
revealed as to "the new direction the school intends to take."

"First, I want to apologize directly to Mrs. Hansen for the way this issue was handled,"
Loveland superintendent Dr. John Marschhausen said in a statement. "The district had a
change in administration, and procedures were not in place for proper articulation of
expectations and goals for the drama department. There was a breakdown internally in
communicating this, which resulted in the circulating of misinformation which is
unfortunate for all involved – our district, our students and Mrs. Hansen."
Laurence O'Keefe
and Nell Benjamin
He added, "On behalf of the district, I want to thank Mrs. Hansen for the success she
achieved during her tenure in growing the participation of the drama department, and for the powerful impact she
made in the lives and development of many Loveland students. We have heard from parents and students
expressing support and appreciation for Mrs. Hansen's dedication, and everyone's goal is the progress of the
drama department."

The musical's Tony-nominated writers, including composer Laurence O'Keefe, lyricist Nell Benjamin and book
writer Hach sent the following words to Playbill.com: "We have no idea what the superintendent's statement
means. We are surprised and disappointed that an educator who put on a show about a woman succeeding
through education was red for it. Any show that tries to be smart and funny may offend some people, but Mrs.
Hansen and her students looked beyond that and saw the positive message of tolerance and female
empowerment at the heart of the show. We only wish the school administration had done the same. We applaud
the parents and students who supported Mrs. Hansen."

Students and parents have since rallied around Hansen, showing their support by wearing Legally Blonde t-shirts
to school and visiting their director at her home. "My kids go to school at Loveland," Hansen says. She stands by
her choice to stage Legally Blonde and to also give displaced students, who don't always t the typical high
school mode, a safe place to express themselves. "What is really devastating to me is to see these kids come in
and some of them, their spirit is crushed," she said. "Some are gay and they have no place to t in. Some are bi-
polar, some don't do anything else at school, but they found out that the theatre department is fun. It's a place for
everyone. Even the kids who work stage crew. You see how kids change. They don't talk and suddenly they're
talking, smiling and making friends. To be able to empower them means so much to me."

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