Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
#0Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/15/05 at 11:31pmSo, there is a production of Into The Woods coming up, and I have a pompous male friend who is INTENT on playing the witch. He is completely convinced he will be cast as the witch, but instead a warlock... I think it is the most ridiculous, effed up thing ever and it will never happen. It couldn't work, because you would have to change the whole plot... What do you guys think about this?
BSoBW2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/8/04
#1re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/15/05 at 11:33pm
There's a whole part in "Last Midnight" with witch rhymes. Will they keep him the witch?
JC14
Stand-by Joined: 3/25/04
#2re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/15/05 at 11:34pmThere was talk of Billy Porter playing the part in the revival...
#3re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/15/05 at 11:35pmI have NO idea.... No one should mess with this.. This just infuriates me. He could easily be the baker, but noooo he wants to take away a perfectly good female role. Selfish bas****.
#4re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/15/05 at 11:43pmI'm pretty sure that it is illegal to change the sex of role. You might be able to cast a boy at the witch in the 1st act, and then have a girl play after the transformation. Overall though, it’s bad idea. The witch after all is a mother and the whole Rapunzel thing would be really creepy with a boy.
BwayLeadman
Broadway Star Joined: 9/29/04
#5re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/15/05 at 11:45pm
If he wants to play the role, he is going to have to settle in being the witch.
when I did Into the Woods, a fellow cast member wanted and auditioned for the "witch". Because there was a large amount of female cast members, he couldn't play the witch. The director said she would have cast him.
bbroadwaybb
Stand-by Joined: 10/12/04
#6re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/15/05 at 11:55pmBilly Porter was nearly cast for the revival.
She's tall enough to be your mother
TheEnchantedHunter
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/27/05
#7re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:01am
A male could easily play the role without a change in the script. In fact there's a precedent--the mezzo-soprano role of the Witch in Humperdinck's opera, HANSEL AND GRETL, is often played by a character tenor.
Amelie Helie
Belleville, Paris
#8re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:03am
I do not see the problem in this....
If he can do it better than any of the women then let him. This role is somewhat flexible.
DF loves the little children, all the children of the world black and yellow, gay or straight, they are perfect in her light DF loves all the children of the world-Dame Fanadette
RentBoy86
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
#9re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:03amI think "witch" is sorta a universal term. I don't neccessarily think of it as being soley female. I'm aware of what the term means, but still, Warlock just sounds stupid. I think a guy could play the role. I would kill to play it. the Witch gets all the best songs.
#10re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:06amthe relationship between Rapunzel and the witch would just be creepy........... I hate this idea, but it's just my opinion.
#11re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:06am
I had a friend who managed a theater company and wanted to do Into The Woods. He couldn't find a female in our area with a strong enough voice and presence to fill the role, so he approached me about doing it. He was fond of non-traditional casting, both color-blind and gender-blind. If it had happened, we wouldn't have changed any of the book or lyrics. I would have been in, er, "pseudo-drag"(?); I would have worn enough costume elements to suggest "Witch" without actually putting me in full-blown drag. (I.E.- I might have worn a dress and a cape, but no fake boobs or anything.)
I was quite disappointed when the production fell through.When else would I get a chance to play a role like that?
And no one grew into anything new, we just became the worst of what we were."
#12re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:07amCreepy why?
DF loves the little children, all the children of the world black and yellow, gay or straight, they are perfect in her light DF loves all the children of the world-Dame Fanadette
#13re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:11amIt's supposed to show their mother daughter relationship..... I just don't like this idea... Especially since there are plenty of capable girls auditioning to do this part.... But, the theatre department is known for doing what shocks people..
#14re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:13am
Gay male and daughter relationship? Father and daughter relationship? It could modernize the show.
Not saying that it needs to be.
DF loves the little children, all the children of the world black and yellow, gay or straight, they are perfect in her light DF loves all the children of the world-Dame Fanadette
Updated On: 12/16/05 at 12:13 AM
#15re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:38am
I have this whole spiel of justifications for making the witch a male because it's a part I want to play someday...
But I really don't think it's that much of a stretch. At all, really. What's creepy about it?
yr ronin,
joey
joey
#16re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:42amI agree, TheatreDiva. It would be ridiculous. I firmly believe that it is a director's duty to be true to the play as written, and this would be a major violation of this honor system we have in the theater (not to mention the LEGAL system). I'm all about finding "new things," but you have to draw the line somewhere. And 98% of the time, switching the gender of a character does not work. This is one of those cases.
#17re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 12:43amThaaank you- Distinctive Baritone. I'm glad someone agrees with me.
Urban
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/05
#18re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 1:14am
Theatre is suppose to be inventive. A male can play the role (in drag if you will) without changing the gender of the role. Heck I have had a friend that have played Lady Bracknell (from the 'Importance of Being Ernest') in complete drag (a black man no less) and Lady Bracknell was still a complete women. I remember he also told me he once saw Mama Rose in drag (I am just going by his word here).
Theatre needs to be inventive. If it isn't, it goes old and dies. Yes some stuff doesn't work and people quickly figure out it doesn't work and discard it. But unless one has seen The Witch as a male-in-drag, then one shouldn't say 'it sucks'. Heck, this is an Industry where for 50 Years, Peter Pan has been played by a female, an old male Rabbi in "Angels in America", Edna Turnblad... if it can work then some gender blind casting wouldn't go completely astray.
In fact the role doesn't exactly call for a female only voice, in fact it would be quiet doable for a male.
#19re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 1:47am
"The witch after all is a mother and the whole Rapunzel thing would be really creepy with a boy. "
HAHAHAHAHA
Yeah I think that would be stupid, unless James Lapine did it.
"Jaime's convienced that the problems are mine. Jaime is probably doing just fine. And I'm still hurting."
#20re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 1:49amThe whole "being true to the play as written" is a very fine line to walk indeed. It's not that switching the gender of a role can NEVER happen. I've often heard of Lady Bracknell being played by a man, and it could work very well with the right actor. Oscar Wilde would have been delighted I'm sure. But as I said, most of the time it doesn't work.
soulman83
Stand-by Joined: 2/25/05
#21re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 2:36amUm anyone who says they cant see a male play the witch has obviously never heard Billy Porter sing "Last Midnight" on his At the Corner of Broadway & Soul cd. its RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING!! I MEAN HE NAILED IT! Actually I read somewhere that sondheim wanted Billy Porter to be the witch but he was having problems with bringing the producers onboard with it due to the fact that they wanted Vanessa Williams to play it. i wonder why that was...anyway, check out billy's cd to hear it or go to his website its fierce! he actually talks about sondheim asking him to try out for the part of the witch. so this really isnt absurd at all.
musicalsaregreat
Understudy Joined: 4/13/05
#22re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 3:04amI think there are many roles that could be played by a man or woman. I'd love to see a female devil in Damn Yankees.
#23re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 3:39amMust...not...write...angry...reply...
fiatlux
Featured Actor Joined: 3/22/05
#24re: Into The Woods- Witch played by a male???
Posted: 12/16/05 at 4:21am
As an aside, and I'm aware that that US theatre does not have these old traditions....Because the plots of ITTW are the content of traditional British pantomime there have been productions in the UK that have reflected that. Therefore the inclusion of the Witch as a Dame part (i.e. a man who plays a female role)is not unknown and would not be a jump at all for a UK audience and has been successful, also because IITW itself neatly subverts the traditional pantomime format. However,it could get complicated because traditionally in Pantomime, Cinderella's step-sisters are also played by men and the Prince by a Principal Boy (an actress)but I haven't heard of a production going that far down the Pantomime route.
Outside of that tradition - it's up for grabs, if you can make it work. A director's role is to communicate his vision of a piece not necessarily to follow slavishly what has happened before - it sounds as though this actor needs to find a director with a bit of guts and a vision.
Videos