PITTSBURGH - A Pennsylvania school district has decided not to stage a musical about a Muslim street poet after community members complained about the timing so soon after the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Richland School District in Johnstown had planned to stage “Kismet’’ in February, but Superintendent Thomas Fleming said yesterday that it was scrapped to avoid controversy.
“Kismet’’ is an Aladdin-style love story set in Baghdad more than 1,000 years ago.
“We’re not saying there’s anything bad about the musical. We may potentially produce it in the future,’’ Fleming said.
The play has no inappropriate content, its director said, but he and other members of the performing arts committee decided to switch to “Oklahoma!’’ after hearing complaints.
