Drama students at Corona del Mar High School were excited to push the envelope with a spring production of the Bohemian love story “Rent.”

But the drama teacher at the Newport Beach school says the principal told him to cancel the show because she disapproved of the gay characters in the musical.

Fal Asrani, the school’s principal, disputes that she pulled the plug on the production, saying that she only asked to review the script, according to district officials.

Now, amid growing backlash and consternation from some students and members of the gay community, the actors at Corona del Mar High are grudgingly preparing for a very different show: “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” The drama teacher said it’s a safer choice and one sure to pass muster with his boss.

Ron Martin said he chose “Rent,” the story of artists struggling in New York City, for the spring musical because he hoped it would be a vehicle for teaching tolerance after overhearing students using homosexual slurs.

“My responsibility as a drama teacher is to expose my students to a variety of different types of plays,” Martin said. At a recent meeting with Martin and a union representative, Asrani shut down the plans for “Rent,” saying that she needed to review the script because of “prostitution and homosexuality,” Martin said, adding that there is no prostitution in the musical.

Asrani did request a script, a common practice in the school district, but was not provided one, said Newport-Mesa Unified School District spokeswoman Laura Boss. The principal has discretion over anything that occurs on campus, but she “emphatically denies” canceling the show, Boss said; that call was made by the drama teacher.

Drama Drama

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