Houston Area Schools Cancel Trips to See JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH Due to Cross-Gender Casting

Schools in the Houston area have cancelled plans to see performances of James and the Giant Peach at Main Street Theater, due to "cross-gender casting" in the show, Houston Public Media reports.

According to the theater's executive artistic director, Rebecca Udden, schools from Spring Branch ISD, as well as local religious schools, are among those who have cancelled their trips to see the production.

Udden says that the district released a statement Thursday, reporting that the cause of the cancellation is "due to concerns raised about the age-appropriateness of the performance". She believes that this was because recent Instagram posts imply that one of the characters would be dressed in drag.

A recent post on the Instagram account Houston Kids First shows a photo of a Main Street Theater actor appearing in drag under the title, "judyandthegiantpeach." Udden said that photo is from 2018 and is unrelated to the theater's production.

According to Udden, "We do not do drag in our theater for youth", but some actors in the production will be playing both male and female roles.

"Every theater in the world has men playing women and women playing men," she said. "It's just part of the tradition. This is certainly blown out of context."

Read the original story on Houston Public Media.