john travolta as edna- Page 2

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 4:41pm

i just think that edna being played by a male makes the show more funny. If a woman were to play the role it really would be the most lame character!

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 4:44pm

not at all. The show is about the mother daughter relationship. I don't think that its a drag role persay- its not about the fact that you have a man playing a woman. It's just the way its been played. granted, yes thats fun...but you dont sit there and think- gee thats a man in a dress. Part of what made harvey so wonderful is the honesty he brought to the role.

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 4:55pm

it doesn't look like we are getting anywhere, but i have to disagree, when i saw it i sat there thinking you know welcome to the 60's wouldn't be funny without a guy being played as edna. You see it is not possible for a woman to play it. it just wouldn't be funny. also it is the way the movie was made which is why it is that way now. however none of us have seen it with a woman in the role, so we cannot say, but for now lets agree to disagree.

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 5:00pm

I disagree also. Don't give me that about the black/white girl/boy thing either. Tracy IS specified to be a girl. Fiyero, per say, is not specified to be white or black. That's also like saying a girl could play Mark in Rent. It is, so don't go saying race relationships are the same as gender.

Posted: 2/28/05 at 5:00pm

Mimi,

I just have a hard time seeing a man playing the role of tracy for the reasons I stated above, shes the most normal grounded character, shes supposed to be an 'any girl' -- "its time we put kids on the show that look like the kids who watch the show" -- Making that character played by a man would complicate that notion that shes just a simple girl who wants to make it big, and it would inevitably skew the chemistry of the whole show. You need a normal character in there.

If you want the answer youre expecting, Im more than capable of feeding it to you but that isnt my reason. I dont have any problem with a man playing a woman or a black person playing a traditionally white role. A 30 yr old woman can play the role cuz she answered a casting call looking for people who are often cast as teenagers. Im sure there are more than a number of men capable of singing the songs written for tracy, Marc Shaiman certainly wanted the part. But Ill thank you to not assume any more than Im actually saying.

So heres what youre expecting: The kind of affection the Wilbur and Edna share is completely different from the kind of love Tracy and Link share, and wrong or not, this will be harder for audiences to swallow with them kissing multiple times and tracy lifting her skirt and panting and such. The dream sequence wedding would cause quite a stir. The only line I see benefiting from Tracy being played by a man is "you throw like a girl!"

Happy?

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 5:09pm

thanx...i mean think about it this way...tracy is fat. a skinny girl couldn't play her, same with almost all the other girls in the cast, seaweed is black, a white male couldn't play him. and i don't understand what you are talking about...you basically are telling me what i am trying to say to you. And the thing about Mark...wtf?!?! It has to be a Guy or else the whole show would change. Mark is a guy who got dumped by a girl for another girl...it wouldn't work if mark was a girl. All of Ednas humor comes from her being played by a guy, it wouldn't work!!!

Posted: 2/28/05 at 5:10pm

if youre talking to me, my post wasnt directed at you.

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 5:13pm

yes i realized that but it helped me out

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 5:19pm

ugh....not talking about Edna. I'm talking about Tracy. It's the same thing for Tracy as it is for Mark. Maybe you would've figured it out if you read my post thoroughly.

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 5:22pm

oh...lol i just glaced at that one and i thought it was saying something different, but i totally disagree with mimi...i cannot see edna as a woman

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 5:44pm

i personally think your expectations are really messed up. I think that people are way to frickin' uptight with Gender in the theatre. It's sexest, narrowminded, anti trans, and downright rediculous. Its based in nothing but traditional values fed to us by blue and pink brandings in the hospital when we are born. Its not about making it a drag role- its about playing the part. If a woman could play mark and it was convincing, I'd all for it. I'm not saying that we would try to make it obvious that a man was playing tracy- I'm saying a man could do it if he played it as a woman, and you could suspend your disbelief. GEt someone in there with the range and the look and you wouldnt notice the difference.

For instance, Lea Delaria played Eddie/Dr. Scott in Rocky. Until that point I had a firm belief that if you had anyone else in drag other than Frank, it would take away from the gimmick of a transvestite character. Well, after seeing rocky with lea, my mind completely changed. Lea was completely convincing in her role.

If someone can do it, let them do it. Don't hold your judgement to the part. Otherwise we're just creating the same kind of theatre that we've done forever.. boring. The world needs to open to untraditional casting in terms of Gender, Race, Disabilites etc.

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 10:44pm

i understand what you are saying, but that would make theatre more sexest...i mean if they could choose guys or girls to play the part then one director would favor one gender. Besides that point i do understand what you are saying. People appreciated sheakspere when it was an all guy cast. But why have a girl play a guys part anymore. That is just stupid. Now i believe that Edna was made for a GUY. It isn't funny without A guy playing the role. Put a Girl in there and it is nothing out of the ordinary and all in all BORING. However i see where you are coming from. But you have to face it. Theatre is the only place in the U.S. where they can leagally be racist, prejudice, and sexist, and that is how it is going to be. Now with the whole race issue, if the role specifies it to be a black male or a white male then so be it. The crucible could not have a black man playing proctor because it would be unheard of for those times, and a WOMAN could not be a judge or a Pastor bcz women weren't that high in society. John Waters wrote hairspray with a guy in mind to play Edna. It is what makes her character. I know i am being redundent, but put a female in the place of edna and the character looses its "zing".

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 4:25pm

I doubt it. Sorry, im standing my ground on this. I think that theatrical roles are more fluid than people make them out to be.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:35pm

simply following a tradition started by the source film in which Divine played Edna............

similar to how decades ago,,,,,,,,even decades before the musical .........major productions of the play PETER PAN always starred women as Peter, such as Maude Adams and Eva La Galliane(sp?)...........we still always have women playing Peter........in the musical we've had Mary Martin, Sandy Duncan, Cathy Rigby, etc.

Edna being played by a man in drag is not a "must" for HAIRSPRAY...however, it is in keeping with the "sensibility" of the work and the source on which it is based.

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 3:18pm

Yes, well obviously its a tradtion. But I think that a woman playing the role would not ruin the character or the production. It's the same as changing the sex of the actor playing the role.

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 3:31pm

But WHY? There are parts made for boys and parts made for girls. The tough thing in theatre is, we all can't have our dream part! Part of being in theatre is having dissapointments, and that includes not getting a role you want because you're the wrong gender. There are standards in theatre, and what you are saying is RIDICULOUS. You said you wouldn't mind a woman playing Mark? A woman CAN'T play Mark, and it'll NEVER happen. I think it's great that you want to push the boundaries, but is there a point? No one wants to see a man onstage playing a role that has never implyed being a man. It's just stupid and ridiculous. It's called standards. Read about it in a casting call. Black, white, 5 3 and under, no one under 18 allowed to audition, etc.

[musicman117]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 3:37pm

Mimi -

I respcet your argument, but, as it comes to this movie i must disagree.

AS far as the stage show is concerned, if they want to cast a male Tracy, more power to them.... but if they want the non-theatre-going publice to come out and see this movie, no way are they going to cast a male tracy

We live in a society where most people could not handle seeing the relationship between a male tracy and a male link. If they want this movie to appeal to the regular public, having a male tracy is not the way to do it.

AS far as Broadway is concerned, if your friend really has the talent to play tracy, i think that Broadway is the place for him, not the movie. Theatre audiences are more likely to accpet that a male tracy.

my personal opinion - Leave Edna as the drag role and Tracy as a woman because it gives heavier girls who wouldnt normally get a chance to play a sweet love interest the chance to do so. Plus, Edna works sooo much better as a man, not saying that a woman couldnt do it though....

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 3:42pm

I could care less about whether or not happens- im not out to recast it immediatly, im just saying it should be open.

Also, I was never even thinking of the movie- i was totally in the mindset of the stage show. As far as Im concerned, i want Marissa and Harvey in the film.

[musicman117]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 4:01pm

the reason i bring up the movie here is because thats what this thread is about....

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 4:56pm

i thought we were just talking about the show in general?

[musicman117]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 7:10pm

It started out as talking aobut the cast of the movie... and then it morphed.... i dont know... i tried to address both

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 7:19pm

The whole idea that Enda has to be played by a man makes no sense to me. In the original film, the role was played by Divine. That's what Divine did. He played women in John Waters' films; and he was excellent at doing so. But, Harvey, Bruce, John, etc.??? They're not known for their drag. I don't get it. The role is a wife and mother, not a drag queen. If a drag queen plays it (Divine), great, but a man in drag makes no sense to me. Besides, nobody touches Divine's performance in that film, so get a woman.

Updated On: 3/3/05 at 07:19 PM

[CatatonicBohoGirl]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 8:14pm

Wouldn't they have to change a few things in the play if a woman played Edna? I mean, Bette Midler really would make a great Edna, but the "No, I'm not her father!" line wouldn't be quite as funny...

As for Travolta as Edna; I was very against the idea at first. Now I've decided to just wait and see how the movie ends up. If the movie is horrible (which most movie-musicals are, in my opinion), then at least we'll have something to laugh about.

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 10:20pm

definitly true, i reserve all judgement until the film is done. I think that anyone male or female who is good actor and can play a caring, compassionate, and over protective mother should be given a good shot.

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 10:52pm

But get a reality check here, It is theatre. As i stated earlier, this is the only place in the us where you can legally discriminate! DEAL WITH IT. What is the use of this mindless posting if it is never going to happen. The character Edna will loose everything that is ever appealing to the charcter if it is played by a female. If i am the only one who feels this way then it is messed up, but if anyone else feels this way, let me know because i don't want to be defending a lost cause!