A Texas high school has canceled its planned production of Little Shop of Horrors after a female student was cast in a male role, a decision the district reportedly said could violate the state’s new 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 who works at a flower shop and serves as the musical’s lead character.
Mota told The Dallas Morning News (DMN) on Monday that she was upset after being told, one week into rehearsals, that she could no longer perform the part. “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 an offer to take another role, the 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 cited Texas Senate Bill 12, legislation authored by Senator Bryan Hughes that was originally passed in 2023.
The measure was designed to “ban drag shows in public,” but the ACLU of Texas says its language extends beyond drag and targets performances considered “sexually oriented.”
Ana Mota, 17, was barred from playing Seymour in her high school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors because of Texas Senate Bill 12, which restricts “drag performances” in front of minors
Mota was initially cast as Seymour, the nerdy male lead in her Texas high school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors
The bill stated that “a single moment of eroticism could condemn an entire performance to criminal or civil penalties,” according to United States District Court documents supplied by the ACLU of Texas.
Little Shop of Horrors explores serious subjects, including abusive relationships and murder, but presents them through a campy, fantastical style generally considered suitable for a high school audience.
The musical contains no nudity, sexual conduct or drag performances.
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The IMDB parental guide rates the film version of Little Shop of Horrors, on which the stage musical is based, PG-13.
On August 25, 2026, US District Judge David Hittner ruled Senate Bill 12 unconstitutional and blocked the Texas attorney general from enforcing it.
“[Ana] earned this role fair and square because of her abilities,” Mota’s mother wrote in a Facebook post. “It truly is unfair what has happened.”
The school district pointed to concerns about the dysfunctional relationship between Seymour and a female character in the musical.
“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 was the original author of 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.’
