Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Well, somethingwicked, the original show is apparently not campy ENOUGH, so why the hell not add a drag queen Margaret into it, right? But seriously, I don't understand why that'd be an addition to CARRIE. It has enough issues as it is (and I'm coming at it from the point of someone who appreciates gender-blind casting).
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Well, here's the thing. If we're talking drag, then I say it doesn't need the camp. It's got enough and adding drag would be overkill. However. If we're talking about cross-gender casting with a man that can act the hell out of it and sing it in the right keys, then I say sure.
To this question I always ask: why is it ever necessary? What did it add to Hairspray? Or Matilda? I'm not uncomfortable with the drag aspect, but as a woman, I always wonder why are some great female roles taken away from, well, WOMEN? There are already far more men's roles in all medium of acting, and fewer men attempting to get them -- why make it worse?
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
I think not, because it might make the show a little less dull (albeit in a strange way), and this show was written to be unremittingly dull and banal.
Pan...hard to find an adult male that could physically pull of looking like a young boy. Drood...based on English Music Hall tradition of male impersonators
Hansel? I'm assuming this in opera form? I wouldn't begin to know.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
I never said I didn't want to see it, I just asked why it was necessary. I know nothing about opera, so thanks for the information.
However, the question as to WHY it is ever needed (no matter which way the drag plays) is not addressed. I'm not bashing it, just posing a question.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
In Humperdinck's opera, Hansel and Gretel are both played by women--and the witch is played by a man:
In Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, the title role of the Rose Cavalier is played by a woman. The opening scene has him (played by her) lolling around in bed with his older female lover. The result often has boundary-breaking exquisite lesbian erotic subtext:
The "taking roles away from women/taking roles away from men" argument usually misses the point.
My opinion on cross gender, color blind, etc. casting has always been let a performer come in and blow me away. If you forget about what you are looking for and just look at who is in front of you, the right person will walk into the room. That person may change your whole vision of the show you're casting with 16 bars of a song. There are fishy enough drag queens out there to play Margaret in The Light in the Piazza.
Sometimes the better actor and best choice for the roll ends up being a guy. Not all performances by men in women's rolls come off as funny and campy. There are great actors out there. And the same goes for women in pants rolls.
Something tells me MLK being played by a white man or Abe Lincoln being played by a black would not cut it. Color blind casting is good to a point. Portraying a fictional character it works. For a real personality I do not think it does. Just an opinion however.