What would any production of “The Sound of Music” be without the historical significance of the Third Reich? The entire story of the Von Trapp family as told in a memoir by a Von Trapp family daughter is centered on the Von Trapp family fleeing from the Nazis in Austria as Hitler took power. The symbols are obviously offensive, but they are supposed to be. Aren’t we supposed to learn from history?
Well, it looks like the principal at the elite “Fame” school ordered Nazi flags and symbols to be removed from the set before the Thursday opening. She could have used this as a teaching moment but in this day and age everyone wants to erase history to protect the snowflakes.
The good thing is that LaGuardia High School Principal Lisa Mars was overruled by the city Department of Education:
“The use of this historical symbol of hatred … serves both an artistic and pedagogical purpose, and the decision to include it was made in collaboration with school staff, students and families.”
NYDN reports:
A portion of the play’s 10-show run will be donated to various Holocaust organizations, including the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, student, and city education officials said.
And the production booklet handed out to audience members will include an insert with a message reading in part, “When we say never again will those atrocities of war be repeated, NEVER AGAIN must be a promise kept.”
A student commented about the controversy:
“It’s still going to be a great show. I’m not going to say it was going to be a bad night because this happened. But it would have been better to explain the symbolism than to just take it away.”
THIS CALLS FOR A SONG FROM “THE SOUND OF MUSIC”…EDELWEISS!
“Bless my homeland forever”
