Who is Michael Hall? Cardinal High School's musical canned for featuring Jesus with gay male parents
COLUMBUS, OHIO: The school board of Cardinal High School in Ohio canceled its high school musical, claiming it was “vulgar”. The musical reportedly featured the parents of Jesus Christ as gay and the musical also had a cameo from Jesus Christ. The board raised concerns over a song titled ‘My Unfortunate Erection’.
According to My Fox 8, around $1700 was spent on the production of the musical. The spring musical was scheduled to screen during "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." Meanwhile, Mandi Machinga, assistant director of the musical, claimed that permission forms were set to be signed for a special middle school student viewing, however, it got canceled before the same.
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Who is Michael Hill?
According to his LinkedIn, Michael Hill is the principal of Cardinal High School and defines himself as an educator with "30 years in secondary education; 6 years as an administrator and 24 years as a mathematics teacher. Varsity football coach for 25 years with two head coaching stops at two Division IV Ohio high schools; 6 years as a head baseball coach; 5 years as a varsity assistant wrestling coach; 3 years experience as a mathematics department chair." He has completed his Bachelor's in Mathematics and Master's degree in Educational Leadership from Kent State University.
He has completed his Principal Licensure, Educational Leadership, and Administration from Ashland University. Later, he secured a license in Superintendency and Educational System and Administration from Youngstown State University. He has worked as a Mathematics teacher for more than 29 years in different schools such as Wickliffe City School District, Howland Local School District, Perry Local School District, and Minerva Local School District. He previously rendered his service as Assistant Principal of Fairless Local Schools for five years.
Why was the musical canceled?
In a statement, the Cardinal Local Schools superintendent Jack Cunningham said, “The Cardinal Local School District has decided that its spring musical production will not be ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.’ Its dialogue and song lyrics contain vulgarity and are therefore not suitable for our pre-teen and teenage students in an educational setting.” Cunningham claimed that the musical was not approved by the board.
Machinga claimed that a meeting was held earlier where three major concerns were raised by the board. “The district believes that the consideration of controversial issues has a legitimate place in our school’s educational programs,” the statement said. However, the district wants its student productions to be something that community members of all ages can enjoy without adult supervision.
“There were concerns about the language in one of the songs. There was a concern about Jesus appearing in the show, and there was a complaint about the fact that two of the parents were gay," said Machinga.
Statement from students
Riley Machinga, one of the students and Mandi's daughter, claimed, "When we found out it was canceled, everyone was heartbroken." She further added, "Honestly, it was terrible. Everyone was just crying." She claimed that it is too late to get the necessary licenses to do another musical as it would require 10 to 17 weeks of rehearsals.
Machinga stated, "Theatre is about making you think about things and question things and think critically. Now they are using vulgar words instead of family-friendly words," Machinga said. "What is obscene? What exactly is your problem with this show and can we sit down and come to some sort of compromise and agreement."