Darkened faces for high school play stagehands spark concerns

A concerned parent in Bethel Park saw the school's play Thursday and sent an email to the district Friday morning expressing concern about the stagehands’ faces.

The high school music program is performing the play “Legally Blonde.” Among the many students in the spotlight are stagehands working behind the scenes.

Stagehands typically dress in all black in order to disappear in the darkness backstage and not distract from the performance.

“Our stage crew students were darkening their faces as part of the show and that it might be sending a bad message,” said Vicki Flotta, director of public relations for the district.

Flotta says it was not the school's intention to offend anyone.

She says they immediately told the students to stop darkening their faces with burnt cork and offered an alternate solution.

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“We've been doing that for years,” she said. “We realized it might be sending a bad message. So we asked them to stop. In lieu of that, we've provided them with black ski masks.”

The first performance under the new rule was Friday night.

Channel 11 caught up with a theatergoer who says he doesn't understand what the uproar is about.

"I really don't find it racist,” said Brian Kretchun. “I think someone is just trying to make a big deal out of it, to be honest. I don't find it personal toward anyone."

Cox Media Group