"We have heard ... growing concern that students of color should be allowed to tell their own stories, even in an educational setting. Now is not the time to present 'West Side Story.'"

Students' lingering concerns about casting and a recent email from about 60 alumni have prompted the Theatre and Dance Department at Otterbein University to jettison plans for a spring production of "West Side Story."

"Students questioned whether or not that was the best show to do because they didn’t know whether we had enough students of color to cast all the roles,” said Christina Kirk, chairwoman of the department.

“We’re in an interesting moment in our culture right now," she said. "We had a good dialogue, talking to each other and learning from each other, and we’re making a choice to shift and do a different show."

The new show is likely to be "Singin' in the Rain," a mid-1980s Broadway musical comedy based on the 1952 MGM film about Hollywood’s 1920s transition from silent films to “talkies.” Otterbein officials are working to secure the rights to the production in time for a March-April presentation, Kirk said.

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“West Side Story,” a classic Broadway musical from composer Leonard Bernstein, updates “Romeo and Juliet” to feuding Puerto Rican and white teenage gangs on the West Side of 1950s Manhattan.

Otterbein theater students began voicing concerns about the choice in midspring, after the theater department announced its 2018-19 schedule.

Students and administrators discussed the matter during several meetings, with department officials ultimately deciding to move ahead with "West Side Story" but pledging to "seek out the information and guidance we need to render this story with truth and authenticity," Kirk said in a statement to students at the time.

Late last year, after show casting decisions were announced, students reiterated their concerns. Some of the minority roles had been awarded to Latin-American and African-American student actors, but others didn't reflect the story.

The Dispatch's attempts to reach several Otterbein theater students for comment were unsuccessful.

Tommy Betz, a 2016 theater alum living in New York City who is on tour with a production of "The Sound of Music," said he learned about the disagreement 12 days ago in a text from another alum and asked an Otterbein senior for more information.

"I was upset and a little embarrassed," said Betz, 24. "My time at Otterbein was very formative, not just in the theater world but also the larger community. It struck me: Why did they choose to do this play when they didn't have that many actors of color? It didn't fit with the Otterbein I knew — the open-minded, progressive and 'with-it' program."

The current political climate, he said, makes casting decisions all the more vital, especially in a show centering on racial tensions, as "West Side Story" does.

Similar objections were raised in the fall at Kent State University, where school officials canceled plans to present "West Side Story" amid student backlash about the lack of minority students in the main roles and the ensemble.

Betz decided to lend an outside voice to the Otterbein discussion — to let students know they have alumni support and to reinforce to school administrators and faculty members the effects that such decisions have on students.

He and others solicited thoughts from alumni on the issue of "authentic representation of marginalized communities onstage" — with about 60 responding — and sent a lengthy email message last week to heads of the theater department and university officials.

"We felt that the faculty genuinely thought that 'West Side Story' would be a tremendous learning opportunity (for students) to work on their craft," Betz said. "However, we did not think it was appropriate for white students to play people of color."

Although department officials also heard from current and former students in support of the production, Kirk said, the recent joint alumni email provided further insight, prompting department faculty — despite the late hour — to swap out the musical.

In a response Friday to the alumni and in a similar statement to the Otterbein campus, Kirk and other department officials expressed a "growing concern" that limiting its season to productions “whose characters and cultures fit neatly into the widest majority of our current student demographic will limit students' capacity to explore and understand different cultures while limiting access to diverse material for its growing population of students of color."

They conceded, however, that "now is not the time to present 'West Side Story.'"

"We continue to assert that this brilliant masterpiece is an excellent educational opportunity for our students," the statements said. "We have heard, however, growing concern that students of color should be allowed to tell their own stories, even in an educational setting. We remain extremely sensitive to honoring the voices of underrepresented persons."

Kirk told The Dispatch this week that the university will use the situation as an opportunity to grow and engage in meaningful discussion about race and casting.

"Throughout this whole process, I was impressed and proud of our current students, alumni, faculty and staff," she said. "Students and alumni spoke up with thoughtfulness and care. They were listening to one another.

"These are thorny issues without easy answers."

allison.ward@dispatch.com

@AllisonAWard

mgrossberg1@gmail.com

@mgrossberg1