Chicago Suburb Wilmette Tries to Curb First Amendment After Banning the Second Amendment

We'd like to thank the editor of The Last Lion for the heads up on this one.Gun banning, Chicago suburb Wilmette where it's illegal(until yesterday?) to defend yourself in your own home with a gun: now attacks the First Amendment.The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Officials of a north suburban park district say strong racial language in the musical "Ragtime" prompted their decision Wednesday to cancel the show two weeks before it was set to open.

Those involved in the production -- set for Wilmette's Gillson Park -- say the decision means the loss of more than a month of hard work by a cast of nearly 40, and a misunderstanding of the show's message and realistic look at race relations in the past century.


Wilmette cancels 'Ragtime' due to language

Wilmette Park District Executive Director Tom Grisamore said he made the decision to pull the show 12 days after learning the details of dialogue and lyrics that include use of the "n-word." The show was set to open July 10 for three weekends in the Starlight Theater free outdoor concert series.

"We had grave concerns that people would take the language they heard over the amplified sound system out of context from a performance that was being held in the bowl," Grisamore said.

Licensing agents for the show declined a request to rewrite parts of the lyrics, so it was dropped.

"I can tell you that this is not something that was done easily and this is not something we did lightly. My heart really goes out to all of the cast and crew that have worked on this for the last couple of months," Grisamore said. "This is something we very honestly should have known about and hopefully we could have acted on this sooner, but we did as soon as we found out what was there."

Musicals usually booked for the outdoor venue, Grisamore said, are mostly upbeat and lighthearted, such as "Hello Dolly," "Showboat" and "State Fair."

Grisamore said the district bought the rights to the show in January, but no one involved in the process apparently had seen the show all the way through. As a result, concerns about the language were not relayed until more recently.

Revising the show's language without permission would have subjected the district to fines of up to $150,000 per word per use, Grisamore said.

Who says the highly educated town of Wilmette has a concern for the Constitution? No word yet from the famous Wilmette resident, in the news of late, who is Barack Obama's real estate fairy,Tony Rezko.