Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
As a 5'3 baritone, I've always thought my options in terms of roles were limited, until today when I was surfing yt and found a video of Hello, Dolly! with a my-height Barnaby. I realized that there are lots of roles for short guys. We may rarely-never get the romantic lead, but we do get some great roles. This is a thread where we can list what roles we could feasibly play!
Barnaby
Jack or the Baker in ITW
Almost anything in Fantasticks
Thenardier in LM
Boq in Wicked (lol)
What else?
Og in Finian's Rainbow was the first one that jumped to my mind.
Igor in Young Frankenstein
LeFou in Beauty and the Beast
Perhaps Benji in My Favorite Year
Charlie Brown/Linus in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown
I'm sure there are more, I'm just thinking of specific roles I'd like to play!
The Cat in the Hat? A midget in Side Show??? This is a weird topic.
Stand-by Joined: 2/26/09
John Adams - 1776
Fiorello LaGuardia - Fiorello
Sancho - Man of LaMancha
Marcellus Washburn - Music Man (height-neutral)
Sipos in She Loves Me (height-neutral)
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/03
Any character role. Randomly, take a look at South Pacific. Any of the sailors from Billis to a walk-on can be not tall. Any character chorus can use all sizes.
Then there is the Alan Ladd syndrome. Ladd, a movie star in the 40s and 50s, was about your height and a leading man. All his leading ladies were tiny--like 5'. With taller men he stood on a box.
Tom Cruise is not exactly Paul Bunyan, you know.
Seymour in Little Shop is supposed to be short, si?
I think he certainly could be. It'd probably depend on Audrey casting.
Stand-by Joined: 2/26/09
Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls
Kringelein in Grand Hotel
Britt Craig in Parade
I'm trying to think of roles that actually have lines or songs rather than just being in the chorus.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/22/08
Horton in Seussical if you are larger
Aladdin possibly depending on the jasmine casting]
Warbucks in annie cause Annie should be little
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
Lol, yeah, hopefully it shouldn't matter for most ensembles. Though when I saw SP, none of the guys were short, and some ECCs even give a height minimum!
I wouldn't look for whether it could/should be played by a shorter man....why pigeon-hole your possibilities? You have the chance to make almost ANY part yours...you just need to convince them!
As a side note: the year Les Miz became available for HS's to do, we took on the challenge. Much to our suprise (and most of the drama club) we ended up casting a 5 foot tall young man as Javert. He was BRILLIANT. Even the kids said they questioned our casting....until about 5 minutes after watching him rehearse. If you believe, so can your audience. Note: he never doubted his abilities for a second.
Bat Boy, sometimes
Frankie Valli
Gavroche
Any of the kids in Spelling Bee
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
Yeah, I was asked more than once at an LM call if I was auditioning for Gavroche. My response: sure, if I can sing the role down the octave!
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
Nathan Detroit in Guys & Dolls could be 5'3".
Hysterium in FORUM.
Mordred in CAMELOT.
As someone who is 5'4' I approve this thread.
Broadway Star Joined: 2/18/04
Standing around 5'5" myself, I grew facial hair when I turned 18 so I wouldn't be mistaken for someone younger. It worked, and I've kept the beard.
There are lots of roles that would function well in your type, just keep at it. Unless there's a height requirement for a part, never let that limit you. I was involved in a production of 'Sunday in the Park with George' with a 5'2" George. His height was never an issue.
Best,
~Kev
Depending on you old you look or "read" on stage (or even film) you could play younger roles too.
Look at some of the roles Eddie Korbich has played.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
Yeah, I read very young. In fact, today I was asked by a shoe salesman if I was 12. But, if you slap a moustache and some gray hair on me I can easily pass for 40, so my reading young should only work in my benefit...
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
There's always Tiny Alice, but you'd have to do the part in drag.
Broadway Star Joined: 6/27/07
Richie the "Gimme the ball" guy from A CHORUS LINE
Featured Actor Joined: 6/3/07
Actors, in general, are a lot smaller than you think.
Being onstage, especially if its elevated, really deceives the eye. You would be surprised how small a lot of MT actors are.
Leading Actor Joined: 1/10/09
Stand-by Joined: 10/18/08
I agree about not limiting yourself because of your height. One option is to wear lifts to make you seem taller, if you wanted to do that.
Videos