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Roles played by both genders in major productions — Page 2

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#31

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/2/10 at 10:35pm

A Stepsister in Cinderella, if a BHMS production counts as major.

I mean, we packed more than 700 folks into the cafetorium for that one.

Pirelli in Sweeny Todd
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
#32

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/2/10 at 11:34pm

Billy Porter changed Marta to Marty in COMPANY in 2002 at CMU. And apparently, Sondheim and Lapine signed off on him playing the Witch. Then, the 9/11 attacks occurred, and it became a question of selling tickets to INTO THE WOODS.

You want citations? I'll give you citations.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06129/688637-346.stm (Company)


And here's the story of INTO THE WOODS
Some people paint, some people sew, I meddle.
#33

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/2/10 at 11:49pm

I've heard a few productions of Company changed Marta to Marty. Also, changing Larry to Linda in A Chorus Line.

And Pirelli in Sweeney Todd.
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
#34

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 12:07am

So my dream of playing Marta could come true!
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
#35

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 12:10am

Thanks for the link Theaterkid. I am so glad that didn't work out. Porter as the Witch would have been one of the most self-indulgent performances of all-time, rivaling Douglas Hodge in La Cage.
#36

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 1:17am

Even though it was only a smaller production, I actually watched The Rocky Horror Show in Hollywood not too long ago. It was quite interesting seeing the whole cast being played by females. The only males were Brad, Frank N. Furter, Rocky, and the Narrator.
#37

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 1:25am

Tam in Miss Saigon
"I love acting. It is so much more real than life." Oscar Wilde
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Aldous Huxley
#39

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 3:22am

Speaking of Marta to Marty, we had a production in Seattle (in the mid 90's) that also changed April to A'pril (don't ask). He was a man though, not a drag queen.

This was put on by our now defunct gay and lesbian theater company. I heard that they didn't officially tell anyone of the changes though until the run was almost over. I kinda remember that Sondheim or his people did get mighty upset over the changes. But it was an excellent production done on a very small stage with only a piano, guitar, and drums as the orchestra (off to the side of the stage area). I enjoyed this version much better than the full fledged version done by a local big theater company around here a few years ago.
Xanadu! Can't cry on cue!
#40

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 5:40am

Vanessa Redgrave and Blair Brown have both played Prospero in The Tempest, though when Brown did it, the role was renamed Prospera.

Lee Breuer directed an interesting if kind of crazy Lear in the early '90s with the sexes of all the characters reversed. It was set in the American south in the '50s or '60s and evoked a Robert Aldrich movie. Ruth Maleczech was Lear.

There was Mary Tyler Moore in Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Of course, there's Shakespeare, not only back in his day, but also plenty of modern productions that have been all-male, such as a famous RSC As You Like It in the 1960s, with Ronald Pickup as Rosalind.

And there have been many others, including a Globe Twelfth Night a few years ago with Mark Rylance as Olivia. And some of those Cheeky by Jowl productions.

Of course, in the opposite direction, a bunch of women have played Hamlet.

And there's Pirelli.

Updated On: 8/3/10 at 05:40 AM

#42

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 8:01am

The Odd Couple with gender switches as well (Sally Struthers and Rita Moreno).

And, I believe, Pirelli in Sweeney Todd.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#44

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 8:58am

There is the all-male FORUM going on right now. I believe it's at Williamstown?
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
#45

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 9:10am

There had been some precedent to a male playing the Witch in INTO THE WOODS prior to Billy Porter's audition; a major UK revival a few years prior had used a man in the role, who perhaps not coincidentally was also black - that may have given Lapine the impetus to ask Porter to read for the role.

That production followed the panto tradition and utilized a female playing the boy role of 'Jack.'

I don't think there has every been a MAJOR production of A CHORUS LINE that has used a female Larry, though lots of high school productions routinely switch genders.

But speaking of ACL, there was a major revival a few years ago in Europe that changed the gender of Cassie and played the role as a man. The production looked incredibly bizarre and was talked about at length on here - I wish I could find the thread - the pictures were fascinating.

Updated On: 8/3/10 at 09:10 AM

#47

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 9:28am

Ha ha - no -- the production shots were so bizarre we were all trying to figure out how they possibly fit into ACL. There was one shot with a car on stage! It must have been German lol
#49

Roles played by both genders in major productions

Posted: 8/3/10 at 9:34am

"Danse for Oma! Danse for Oma!"

LOL

That's great, Phyl. Now if only they'd had a car ...
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

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