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My last entry was about the predilection of modern playwrights to rely upon blue language. My next entry was going to be about how this trend is making it more and more difficult to bring relevant theatre into the world of budding young theatre students and vice-versa.

But then something happened that made me drop my jaw on my keyboard in complete and utter disbelief: Music Theatre International has announced that a rated PG-13 version of “Avenue Q” is now available for amateur licensing.

To quote Seth Myers of SNL’s Weekend Update: REALLY ?!?

The obnoxiously funny puppet show for adults that works because it turns upside-down the notions that puppets are for kids and musical theatre can never be anything like a “South Park” episode (well, at least before Parker and Stone’s “The Book of Mormon” opened on Broadway this year)…sanitized so that the family can now enjoy it? And it’s even titled “Avenue Q: School Edition.”

Really?!?

From the Music Theatre International website: “Because the original AVENUE Q has some content elements that previously made it a difficult choice for some high school productions, MTI has worked with the AVENUE Q authors to … make it more appropriate for high school audiences and performers.” Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I thought that the whole beauty of this show was just how INappropriate those puppets could be.

Difficult choice? Not difficult at all, if you ask me. There are some shows that just need to be understood as being off limits for high school performers. There are some shows that should be ‘Adults Only’ …and that’s perfectly okay. Understand, though, that I am not just considering the language factor. A friend and I were having the conversation recently that there are some plays that high schools (and even middle schools) attempt to produce because they are ‘classic’ that are really beyond the emotional scope and experience of the average 15 year old. “Our Town,” the most widely produced high school play in America is really not a play for teens – its perspective of memory can only be fully realized by actors who are actually old enough to look back on their formative years from a distance of more than a grade or two. Many popular musicals that have no objectionable content are really not written for amateur singers or musicians, and yet so many attempt them.

I have a confession: when I was a high school theatre director I felt the pressure to “keep up” with my fellow high school directors in terms of the hipness and cool factor and up-to-date relevance of my play selection. A few years of distance allows me to see that I made some choices that were not in the best interest of my students, but were more likely about being cool, hip and edgy among my colleagues.

Sometimes I wonder about the motives of my compatriots when I see them making choices that are surprisingly ‘adult’ – not just in language or content, but in the emotional scope and skill required by the performers (Sondheim, anyone?). What is the purpose of secondary level educational theatre, after all? What are we trying to accomplish with those choices for our students? And is “Avenue Q: School Edition” really the answer? Because if it is, then if I were still directing high school theatre I'd be singing "It Sucks to Be Me."