Tale #22: Stop Scolding Me About Hair

I had my first directorial experience when I was 22. I was fresh out of college and ready to make a splash. I ambitiously had applied with Bring It On the Musical for the teen program and was approved. 

There were many foreseeable challenges that came with doing a cheerleading musical, but also some rather unexpected ones.

There were two, not just one, but two issues I had with parents scolding me for how I handled their kids’ hair.

Now, I would never make fun of a teen’s style or force someone to drastically change their hair. This is community theater and people have lives outside of their voluntary participation in the shows.  

One rehearsal, two of our leading cheerleaders approached me and I asked if I minded if they dyed their hair blonder. I said that it was totally fine but asked that they didn’t make it any crazy colors like hot pink as that would not be appropriate for their characters. They said yep and off they went.

The next day I received an angry email from one of those girls’ parents. They said their child had told them they were required to dye their hair blonder for their role because I had insisted on it. Then the parents very understandably asked if that was necessary and why we couldn’t provide a wig if we needed them to have blonder hair.

That little stinker went home and told her mom that I had made it a requirement when really, she just wanted to dye her hair blonde and needed a reason that would force her mom to let her do so. I immediately explained what had actually happened, as I was not about to get a reputation as a director who makes unreasonable demands about a child’s hair.

The second incident involved one of our male leads. It was a Sunday night rehearsal just like all the rest when he came up to me with a ponytail on the top of his head that looked like a hybrid between Cindy Lou Who and Alfalfa from The Little Rascals. Laughing he said “hey, should I wear my hair like this for the show?” Sensing that his tone was in jest I replied “yeah absolutely not” in a tone to try to match the humor of the situation. 

Later that evening I received a Facebook message from his parent asking how dare I make fun of a kid’s hairstyle. He was apparently trying to express himself and I greatly upset him. I’m not sure how the story got spun that far out of control, but clearly he had told his mom a different story than what I had experienced. Again, I immediately explained what had actually happened and that I in no way meant to mock a child for their long hair.

With Bring It On the Musical, we threw people in the air, tumbled, and stunted with very few issues. Yet the topic that saw some of the most parental involvement was hair.