"The eyes of Texas, the nation, and the world are on this production": Sherman students prepare for musical likely to draw national attention

Credit: WFAA

SHERMAN, Texas — With 11 days until opening night, Sherman High School's theater students are still polishing their lines and finding their tune. 

"Oklahoma!" is a complex musical, theater director Kyle Nichols says. 

"Kids are always inclined to act like it's a TV show or a movie: sort of demure," he said. "You have to push them out because musical theater is very, very different."

Still, his students are further along than they let on. Instructors offered a few critiques during their Monday rehearsal. 

Given the circumstances, their progress is impressive. 

"There are people who didn't have their roles and got them really late, so they had to get off-book really fast," senior Max Hightower said. "And I'm not just talking about me."

Students auditioned for their roles in late August. In November, Sherman ISD Superintendent Tyson Bennett effectively ordered a recast. 

A new district policy barred students from playing roles that did not match their gender assigned at birth. Hightower, who is transgender, would not be allowed to play the Ali Hakim character he'd come to love.

"He's fun to play because you don't get to be over-the-top in public," he said. "He's very over the top."

Bennett's decision and ensuing national media attention prompted protests and backlash. Sherman ISD trustees eventually reversed the policy and removed fine arts from Bennett's purview. 

The board also hired a law firm to investigate the decision. 

"To maintain the integrity of the investigation, there is no further information to share at this time," a district spokesperson wrote in a statement to WFAA. "Once the investigation is complete, counsel will confer with and advise the SISD Board."

The show will go on, running from Jan. 19 through Jan. 21. Tickets are still available here.

Hightower will play Ali.

"The support is great," the senior said. "But I just want this play to be like - it's just my senior high school play."

Students recognize their performance will draw international attention. The show will be streamed online, as well. 

They admitted the larger audience adds some pressure, but downplayed its significance. 

"I try not to let it change my point of view so it doesn't freak me out when I go on stage," senior Grey Dutton, playing Laurey, told WFAA. "I'm just trying to go out and give my best, no matter who's watching." 

"I tell them, 'This is just another show. You don't need to worry about what's going on behind the scenes,'" Nichols said, acknowledging this performance is likely to be the biggest of his students' lives, even if some of them pursue acting as a profession. 

"The eyes of Texas, the nation, and the world are on this production," he said. "I know that sounds very dramatic, but it's a reality that this play is now a much bigger deal than any of us could have imagined." 

His students have handled the circumstances with grace and poise, Nichols said. But he lamented that the young actors and actresses were thrust into real-life drama. 

The saga has forced them to "grow up" faster than they should, he said, though praising their maturity. 

"I want kids in high school to be normal kids," he added. "Unfortunately, they're not normal kids. Many of them are now activists and icons." 

Aware they're at the center of a culture war, the students invited a potentially massive audience to enjoy the musical for its participants' hard work and passion. 

"I want them to look on the stage and say, 'This is a great group of kids. They're having fun, which makes me have fun,'" junior Tucker White, playing Curly, said. "I just want everybody to have a good time."