Don't Mess With The Mouse

After weeks spent slaving away, all the gay-lesbian-transgendered-asexual -bisexual-did-I-miss-anyone-it's-a-long-list-I-know of NUI Galway are devastated. Gutted, even. No, it's not because Martin Sheen has finished his course and is going back to sunny, warm Los Angeles.

Blame it on the mouse. The legal suits at Walt Disney Corp. have pulled the plug on the gay-lesbian-transgendered-asexual-crossdressing-sure-that-covers-all-the-permutations theatre group that was fully prepared to do their own unique version of the Whoopi Goldberg vehicle, Sister Act. According to reports, this play that will not now be seen was loosely based on the movie, and we are all left to use our imaginations to guess how loose the adaptation would have been. Whatever might have been planned, those in charge presumed that Walt would not have been pleased, and so, the lawyers fired off a letter or two, threatened a bit of legal action, and the show will not go on.

Produced by Jeff Rockett, the play was scheduled to open in two days time. Sets were constructed, tickets sold, posters printed, the lot. Six months of writing and rehearsing, only to be told that the group would be infringing on Disney's intellectual property rights. Poor Mr. Rockett doesn't understand how the giant corporation could do such a thing, to put a stop to the play.

"They are simply in disbelief," he said about the cast and the crew. "Something that they have poured their hearts and souls into has been destroyed..." by the same company that gave them Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck when they were wee little babes.

All they wanted to do was promote acceptance and support for the gay-bisexual-transgendered-lesbian-celibate-and-if-I-missed-your-particular-sexual-orientation-I'm-sorry community in Galway, and Disney was upset. The Big Mouse is in a tizzy and Mr. Rockett is dumbfounded.

Sure it's understandable. if you've ever been to one of the theme parks and seen all those gay dancers and costumed characters employed by Disney, you'd think the company was quite open-minded. But it's not the mind at issue, you see, it's the bottom line. The bottom line, where all the traditional Ma and Da families deposit their hard-earned dollars for that magical trip to Disneyland, accompanied by their children who were created in the old-fashioned way...and no one messes with that.