12 Students in Play Suspended for Drinking Alcohol

The final two performances of the spring play at Wilson Junior High School in Glendale were canceled, and 12 members of the production were suspended because they drank beer, wine and rum before going on stage, school authorities said Friday.

Glendale schools spokesman Vic Pallos said the students admitted that they had been drinking in the school auditorium Wednesday evening shortly before they appeared in Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.”

Pallos said that five students were implicated Wednesday evening and that the number grew to 12 by Friday as administrators interviewed students involved in the play. All 12 were suspended for five days. No further disciplinary action will be taken, Pallos said.

The students apparently showed no signs of intoxication during the performance. Pallos said school officials were informed of the drinking by a parent whose child reported that some cast members brought alcohol to school in soft-drink containers.

Suspension is automatic for any student who brings alcohol onto the campus or drinks it there, Pallos said.

A modernized version of the Shakespearean comedy was performed Wednesday morning for other students and again Wednesday evening before a paying audience.

The performances scheduled for Thursday and Friday nights were canceled. About $3,500 in advance ticket sales will be refunded, Pallos said.

Pallos said that an attempt to recast the vacated roles proved unworkable and that Wilson Principal Ruth Lander rejected a plan to withhold discipline until next week to allow the show to go on.

“It was decided to send a message to the students that this is not going to be tolerated on campus, no matter who does it,” Pallos said.