A number of high schools have run into trouble trying to stage a “school edition” of Rent, a toned-down version of the Broadway show that included gay and straight characters, AIDS and the homeless. Garland canceled it, for instance, as did a school in Newport Beach, California. But the NYTimes reports that it’s the 2008 dust-up in Rowlett over a high-school Rent that has prompted a new musical-in-development, Speargrove Presents. The New York Theater Barn is a holding a benefit reading of the show. One wonders if Speargrove, described as a “humorous, heartfelt account,” will incorporate a happy ending with the Rowlett students eventually performing songs from Rent at SMU, which they did.

Next up, no doubt,a musical about Corpus Christi at Tarleton State.