Max Hightower was hooked on theater after watching the musical “Hamilton.” Then just 13, he begged his family to rewatch it immediately. Soon, he started every morning listening to the soundtrack.
So, when Max, who is now a high school senior, was cast in a supporting role with his own solo in the Sherman High School production of “Oklahoma!” — a quintessentially American musical about love and statehood — he threw himself into the production.
But now it’s unclear whether Max, who is transgender, will get to sing as Ali Hakim, the Persian peddler. Through a whiplash of sudden policy changes about the gender of performers and public hand-wringing about the revered American musical’s content, Sherman school officials have effectively cast Max as the lead in a very different drama playing out in real life. It’s more akin to the civil rights fight of “Hairspray” than the love triangle in “Oklahoma!”
Read more from the The Texas Tribune.
