Gender Bender: Roles played by men and women

[Broadway Bounce]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 3:47pm

Fascinating to learn that Whoopi Goldberg took over for Nathan Lane in the role of Pseudolus in the 1996 Broadway revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Any other roles that were originally conceived to be played by one sex and then played by the other sex?

 

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[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 3:48pm

The Leading player in Pippin.

 

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 3:59pm

I've heard of men playing the Witch in Into the Woods.  Apparently Billy Porter was approached to play her in the 2002 revival, but the producers wanted Vanessa Williams.

A friend of mine saw the drag queen Ginger Minj as Nellie Lovett in a production of Sweeney Todd in Orlando and was apparently amazing.

I'm waiting for some gender blind casting in Hamilton.  Cynthia Erivo would make a great Burr.

Updated On: 9/14/17 at 03:59 PM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 3:59pm

Mary Tyler Moore replacing Tom Conti in Who's Life Is it Anyway?

 

[newintown]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 4:09pm

In the recent tour of Once, the Bank Manager, played as a man in the Broadway production, was a woman.

[Theatricality]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 4:17pm

I believe the current off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd has a woman as Pirelli 

[newintown]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 4:19pm

"I believe the current off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd has a woman as Pirelli"

Nothing new there - Donna Lynne Champlin played the role on Broadway back in 2005.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 4:36pm

^ well, it's still a gender bender. 

Hedwig - starring Lena Hall.

Rocky Horror Picture Show - recent TV live musical starring Laverne Cox, and Glee having done it a few years ago with Amber Riley I believe.

 

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 4:40pm

Broadway Bounce, does your question also include drag performances (like Peter Pan originally and usually being played by a woman, or the many women who've played Hamlet or the many men who've played Lady Bracknell)?

Because I took your question as something else entirely.

I thought you were asking only about roles conceived originally for a man playing a man that were later played by a woman as a woman.  Or vice versa.

:Like the female version of The Odd Couple, or, as I mentioned before, Mary Tyler Moore playing Claire Harrison in Who's Life Is It Anyway? replacing Tom Conti's Ken Harrison.  Or, as you mentioned, Whoopi Goldberg playing Pseudolus as a woman.

Updated On: 9/14/17 at 04:40 PM

[raddersons]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 4:44pm

Mrs. Bumbrake in Peter and the Starcatcher was originally played by a woman in workshops, but they switched it to a "drag" type role with a man playing the woman's part at some point in the middle of the workshop.

[Kad]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 4:52pm

raddersons said: "Mrs. Bumbrake in Peter and the Starcatcher was originally played by a woman in workshops, but they switched it to a "drag" type role with a man playing the woman's part at some point in the middle of the workshop."

However, one of the understudies for the role was a woman.

[BroadwayPrincess3]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 5:46pm

At one point (not sure if it's still happening) the understudy for Babkak in Aladdin was a woman. 

[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 9/15/17 at 10:08am

I also believe in the original Hedwig, Ali Sheedy played Hedwig.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/15/17 at 10:14am

It seems that there are two strands to this discussion:

roles that take on the sex of the actor playing them (eg, The Leading Player, the Cat in the Hat)

roles that are played by both sexes but are fixed character-wise (eg, Lady Bracknell has been played by male and female actors but the character is always a woman)

[RockyRoad]

Posted: 9/16/17 at 3:17am

I think this post is asking about Broadway productions that have gender switched the roles as originally written (like the mentioned Forum, Who's Life, and Once).

I believe the upcoming Broadway revival of Once on This Island is gender switching a role of one of the gods that was originally played by a women, now being played by Alex Newell.

We know that regional, community, and school productions play around with roles. Heck, I know of several Technicolor Dreamcoat school productions that had women playing a few of the brothers cause they didn't have enough men!

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/16/17 at 8:55am

Saint Jimmy in American Idiot.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 9/16/17 at 10:24am

To my knowledge, there's been two regional productions of A Chorus Line that switched Cassie to a male(Casey).

[Fan123]

Posted: 9/17/17 at 4:02am

A couple of 'Cabaret' productions have had the Emcee played by a woman, with the character herself also being a woman (as far as I know?). There's also that 'Company' production coming up with a female 'Bobbie'.

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 9/17/17 at 7:11pm

Kad said: "raddersons said: "Mrs. Bumbrake in Peter and the Starcatcher was originally played by a woman in workshops, but they switched it to a "drag" type role with a man playing the woman's part at some point in the middle of the workshop."

However, one of the understudies for the role was a woman."

Really? How'd they make that work, considering there were a few jokes related to the fact the character was being played by a man? Like (off the top of my head): "Thank you, kind sir...er...lady." and then that part where Mrs. Bumbrake and Alf are canoodling and the actor playing Bumbrake suddenly drops his feminine voice as very gruffly says, "Listen dude—I have to go get the girl." 

Did they just drop those jokes the night the female understudy was on? Or plow through them? 

Updated On: 9/17/17 at 07:11 PM

[helvizz]

Posted: 9/17/17 at 10:13pm

Pretty much every role in Godspell, including Jesus and Judas/John, can be gender bent, specially because it really is an ensemble piece in which the community matters, not really the characters (for instance, in many productions the characters go by the actors' real names instead of the names used in the OBC). I've heard of gender-bent Jesus and Judas and have seen a production in which the soloist of Light of the World was a woman and another production in which Turn Back O Men was sung by a man (a very flamboyant gay man, I might add). It wouldn't surprise me if the other characters have been gender bent as well.

Updated On: 9/17/17 at 10:13 PM

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 9/18/17 at 8:59am

Melpomene and Calliope both had male understudies in Xanadu.

[Justin D]

Posted: 9/18/17 at 9:33am

Id love to see a fierce drag queen play morrible in wicked, it will never happen, but just imagine.....

[Crazy NooNooHead]

Posted: 9/18/17 at 9:56am

Amelia McClain understudied Trevor in The Play That Goes Wrong.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 9/18/17 at 10:14am

Gary Coleman in Avenue Q would count as a role played by both men and women but whose gender is fixed as male.

[nmlhats]

Posted: 9/18/17 at 12:06pm

I can tell you that after seeing Cynthia Erivo's Ham4All video of "Dear Theodosia," I would kill to see her as Aaron Burr.