Burbank students protest to perform Laramie Project

July 1, 2008 by Dennis Baker 

About a month ago students from John Burroghs High School in Burbank performed The Laramie Project off campus at the near by professional Colony theater after the principal prohibited them from performing the play at school. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the students did not take no for an answer and begin to rehearse the play at a student’s backyard. “They dubbed themselves the Don’t Tell Bailey Theatre Company in honor of their drama teacher — who could not be involved because it wasn’t school-sanctioned — and started to advertise the play via e-mail and a MySpace site. That brought an unexpected bonus: Leigh Fondakowski and Kelli Simpkins, two of the creators of “The Laramie Project” as members of the Tectonic Theater Project, decided to join the 23 cast members for three days of rehearsals this week, flying in from New York City and Chicago.” The students asked the Colony theater if they can perform on their stage and the theater not only allowed it but provided them with costumes, props, programs and help with sound and lighting.

This feels like a small world as I substitute taught for four years in Burbank and subbed specifically for Scott Bailey’s drama class. As an actor and teacher his class was one I always enjoyed having the opportunity to teach. The students were excited and serious about theater. They had fun and enjoyed the class. This was all a reflection on the good job Bailey was doing.

With al these thoughts I was shocked by the lat paragraph of the article. Principal Emilio Urioste Jr. took away Bailey’s drama assignment for next year, although Bailey will remain on the faculty teaching English. The article states that Bailey is challenging the decision with a union grievance. I hope this is continued to be reported on because I feel this news to be just as shocking as the students’ story. The only details given about the reassignment was that Urioste “noted that he and Bailey have disagreed over the direction of Burroughs’ drama program — Urioste hoping for big musicals that can merge talents from the drama, music and dance departments, while Bailey has stuck to his preference for more intimate and adventurous plays.” Something more had to happen for Bailey to be reassigned or was media scrutiny enough for Urioste to not only recount his decision regarding the play, but to also remove Bailey as some sort of threat. Hopefully the decision will be reversed.

UPDATE: Scott Bailey He has taken a post at Charter High School of the Arts — Multimedia and Performing, which is also known as CHAMPS, where he’ll teach English and be involved in the theater program this fall as reported by the Burbank Leader.

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Filed under: Acting, Los Angeles, Teaching

Comments

7 Responses to “Burbank students protest to perform Laramie Project”

  1. Frances Uku on July 2nd, 2008 5:50 am

    had i had a teacher like John Bailey when i was in high school, i’d have a *bunch* of Oscars by now. a passionate man with the biggest heart, who will be just fine wherever he lands.

  2. dennisbaker on July 2nd, 2008 1:03 pm

    Good to hear from you Frances!

  3. Philucifer on July 2nd, 2008 3:02 pm

    Thanks for the news. That’s crazy. I went to Burroughs from 1991-1995 (pre-Bailey), and did some directing and actor-coaching there in 1999 & 2000 through Mary Rago, the now-retired Vocal Music teacher. It really doesn’t surprise me, though, that Urioste took away Bailey’s drama assignment. It’s always been a fairly conservative school (& community). Kudos to the Colony for stepping up.

  4. Linus on July 17th, 2008 8:07 am

    I was a member of the Laramie Project cast in Burbank, and as an update, Baily has resigned from Burroughs High.

  5. dennisbaker on July 17th, 2008 12:20 pm

    Thanks for the update Linus!

  6. EMILY on May 7th, 2009 4:50 am

    1.MR BAILEY IS NOT INVOLVED WITH THEATRE AT ALL AT CHAMPS!

    Mr. Bailey does teach at CHAMPS charter. I believe that OVER 95 % OF THE 10TH GRADE ENGLISH STUDENTS HATE HIM. I am currently a student of his. i have no problem with him however he can be extremly rude and his personality can be rather annoying. After what happened at Burroughs High i am suprised he was hired. [ to Mr bailey if you are reading this. PLEASE JUST BE A BIT MORE UNDERSTANDING AND PEOPLE WILL ACTUALLY WANT TO BE IN YOUR CLASS! ] thank you dennis baker for letting me share my opinion on your site!

  7. anna nomous on September 10th, 2009 10:09 pm

    Mr. Bailey is by far one of the best teachers i have ever had. He is knoledgable about everything he teaches and will always go further into details if asked. He is open to new ideas and is chameleon like in a way that he molds into different classes.

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