A Texas high school has canceled its production of Little Shop of Horrors after a female student was cast in a male role, reportedly raising concerns about the state’s law restricting drag performances in front of minors.
Ana Mota, a 17-year-old senior at South Grand Prairie High School, had been chosen to play Seymour Krelborn, the awkward young man at the center of the musical’s story.
Mota told The Dallas Morning News (DMN) on Monday that she was upset after losing the role one week into rehearsals. “This isn’t drag at all,” she said.
According to DMN, the Grand Prairie Independent School District told the theater director that Mota had to be replaced by a male actor.
When Mota declined to take another part, the school district scrapped the entire production, the outlet reported.
“I was frustrated because I had worked hard for the role and I wasn’t allowed to play it,” Mota said during a live interview with FOX4.
The district’s concerns centered on Texas Senate Bill 12, legislation authored by Senator Bryan Hughes and originally passed in 2023.
The measure was designed to prohibit drag shows in public settings, but the ACLU of Texas says its language extends beyond drag and covers performances deemed “sexually oriented.”
Ana Mota, 17, was not allowed to play Seymour in her high school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors because of Texas Senate Bill 12, which limits “drag performances” in front of minors.
Mota was originally cast as Seymour, the nerdy male lead in her high school’s Little Shop of Horrors production in Grand Prairie, Texas.
According to United States District Court documents provided by the ACLU of Texas, the bill stated that “a single moment of eroticism could condemn an entire performance to criminal or civil penalties.”
Little Shop of Horrors explores dark themes, including abusive relationships and murder, but presents them through a campy, fantastical style generally considered suitable for a high school audience.
The musical includes no nudity, sexual conduct or drag performances.
The movie on which the stage production is based received a PG-13 rating in the parental guide published by IMDB.
On August 25, 2026, U.S. District Judge David Hittner ruled that Senate Bill 12 was unconstitutional and barred the Texas attorney general from enforcing it.
Mota’s mother, Nancy Jimenez, said in a Facebook post that her daughter “earned this role fair and square because of her abilities.” She added: “It truly is unfair what has happened.”
The school district cited concerns about the dysfunctional relationship between Seymour and a female character as part of its reasoning.
“I was frustrated because I had worked hard for the role and I wasn’t allowed to play it,” Ana Mota said in a live FOX4 interview about the canceled production.
Senator Bryan Hughes authored Senate Bill 12, which passed in 2023.
‘When District leadership learned of this issue and in consideration of themes in the musical involving an abusive relationship, a decision was made to pull that production and find something more appropriate,’ the District told DMN.
The school district’s Facebook page has been flooded with comments demanding the production continue with Mota in the role of Seymour, as planned.
One user wrote: ‘In addition to the Shakespeare and Peter Pan comments, women have been cast in male roles (“breeches roles”) in theater and opera since the 1660s, and male actors typically play female characters (“panto-dames”) in Christmas pantomimes which are specifically geared towards children.
‘Let Ana and the others have their musical!’
Another said: ‘A high school production of Little Shop of Horrors is a school musical, not adult entertainment.’