Gender Blind Casting?

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 6:54pm

'Color-blind' or race-swapping casting has been pretty popular and even has become standard on Broadway (110 in the Shade, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Little Mermaid, Asian Falsettos, black Laurie in Oklahoma, etc.) in the past decade. Is there any possibility that the next step in shaking up classic productions will be gender-blind or gender swapping?

I was just discussing with a friend today how a female Finch in H2$ could have some pretty cheeky and neat potential- especially if the rest of the cast were left the same gender.

I'm not taking about drag, but a female playing a female or a male playing a male such as a male Charity in Sweet Charity or two women in the leads of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and then a male Janet Colgate.

There's been some instances of this before like the female Odd Couple or frequently in Shakespeare (I've seen more female than male Hamlets at this point), but what about in contemporary musicals? Anyone have an opinion?

[shrekster224]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 7:38pm

Melissa Etheridge as St. Jimmy. She really didn't play either gender, but it was a woman playing a male's role.

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 7:42pm

Etheridge wasn't exactly playing a real character, though. She ws playing the protagonist's id.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 7:58pm

Whoopi replaced Nathan Lane in the revival of Forum back in the 90s.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 8:01pm

When I finally get to play Dolly, all of Broadway will stand up and cheer!

[JOak]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 8:02pm

I don't know if it was ever played that way, but the libretto for Nine swaps the gender for the part of Liliane LaFleur (Maurice LaFleur) and for other female parts like Stephanie Necrophorus.
Updated On: 3/1/11 at 08:02 PM

[jacobp]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 8:11pm

Also the Emcee at ART's cabaret was played by a woman

[Moneyspider]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 8:24pm

I think it depends on the work and the part. As a kid, I was in a version of the Sound of Music where my sister played Rolf in drag and the butler was changed to a maid because there weren't enough boys in the program. I think it depends on what effect you're going for or if the part is incidentally one gender or another. I mean, Shakespeare was first performed all male (and today the Globe has all male, all female and coed companies) and in Japan there's the all female Taranzuka musical theatre. I wish YouTube still had the Taranzuka Scarlet Pimpernel clips up.

[philly03]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 8:26pm

Surprisingly the Japanese premiere of Frank Wildhorn's DRACULA, the musical will have a female in the title role... (and it's not a Takarazuka production, the theatre company that is performed entirely by women)

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 8:27pm

The Leading Player in PIPPIN has been played by a woman (including Tracie Thoms in the recent Broadway revival-workshop) - but these roles - The Emcee, The Leading Player, Pseudolus - are all slightly androgynous characters. In the UK, where there is a bigger tradition of 'panto' casting - some major musical theatre roles in the West End (including Dolly and Miss Hannigan have been played by men in drag).

There have been a few regional productions of INTO THE WOODS that had a male witch.

There was a very bizarre looking production of A CHORUS LINE that was in Germany about five years ago that made Cassie a male character.

But for the most part - unless the author or the estate signs off on it - the licensing agreements for the rights usually specify that you can't change gender of characters because in doing so you are really changing the authors original intention. The Cole Porter estate for one, memorially shut down a production of ANYTHING GOES in which Reno Sweeney was portrayed as a man ("you're the top," anyone?)




Updated On: 3/1/11 at 08:27 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 8:59pm

A few years ago, when the Papermill put on Mame, Mother Burnside was played by a man, and effectively.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 11:38pm

I was recently thinking today it would be fabulous to do Spamalot completely gender reversed.

But MB, I'm glad Hannigan has been played in drag...it gives me hope. (Hannigan, Ms. Lovett, Ursula [I mean, she's a total drag queen] and Edna are all my dream roles)

The bottom line is this: for some shows it works if you want to make a statement. For others, its usually out of necessity. For others its for fun. In the end, it's all in a matter of good taste and what purpose.

However, for most Sondheim shows, since the music is so strict, gender-bending is harder. I believe Madame Armdfelt could be gender-bent, and I believe with the right musical team, Assassins could be a fun gender-bend, but other shows...not so much.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/1/11 at 11:41pm

I was just discussing with a friend today how a female Finch in H2$ could have some pretty cheeky and neat potential- especially if the rest of the cast were left the same gender.

I went to an all women's college and this was something that was actually discussed. We were even throwing around names to replace "Rosemary" "Chris-to-pher" was one that I recall. I don't remember why it fell to the wayside & didn't happen. Probably permission.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/2/11 at 12:44am

Lea DeLaria is one talented gender bender, her Marryin' Sam was pitch perfect and she also pulled it off in ROCKY HORROR.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/2/11 at 12:50am

I have found that gender-blind casting is fine for academic situations in which enough of a certain gender can't be had (thought you must wonder why the show was chosen), but that, honestly, the idea often works best on paper and rarely in practice. Characters are gendered the way they are for a reason. If the writer wished to have Character X be female/male, they would have written it that way. Unless you come up with an ironclad defense of the decision, which somehow reinforces the writer's point, it's just an exercise in applying "concept".

[Urban]

Posted: 3/2/11 at 6:08am

I've seen the Arbiter in "Chess" play by (and as) a female and it was pretty fantastic actually (well she was).

I wanna see a female Jesus Christ in "Jesus Christ Superstar". Yes I know all about the version with Amy Ray (hey I'm an Indigo girls fan!), but I just wanna see a production myself!

I've seen a few Gilbert & Sullian shows change supporting characters to female (and it works as well), but only because (a) the shows are public demain and (b) some of the shows really have bugger all females in it!
Updated On: 3/2/11 at 06:08 AM

[binau]

Posted: 3/2/11 at 6:13am

"I believe Madame Armdfelt could be gender-bent,"

Really???

[Jon]

Posted: 3/2/11 at 7:01pm

There a big difference between a woman playing Finch as a woman and a woman playing a male role in man drag. The John Doyle Sweeney Todd had a woman as Pirelli. Brian Bedford is playing Lady Bracknell. Then there's Edna in Hairspray...

There is no licensing restriction regarding the gender of the performer playing a role. However you cannot change the gender of the CHARACTER without the express written permission (of major league baseball...). The character of Pirelli is a man, regardless of the fact that a woman is playing him.

How to Succeed... is the story of a man named Finch and a girl named Rosemary. You can't change that.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 3/2/11 at 9:07pm

Why all the discussion? We all know that a woman's true place is at home raising children, not strutting around a stage like a prostitute.

Kidding, kidding. But seriously, when it comes to casting, if the basic guidelines (gender, age, race) are made clear by the script (and more often than not, they are), those guidelines should be followed unless you have a pretty groundbreaking idea behind your "non-traditional casting". I don't believe this should be out of respect for the perceived wishes of the author(although respect is always nice), but because nine times out of ten when a role is cast "non-traditionally," it just doesn't work, or is in the very least, a distraction from the story the author wrote. If you want to tell a different story, do a different play.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/2/11 at 9:41pm

What about Peter Pan?
We now take it for granted that a woman will play this part,at least in the musical, so when a man/boy plays it, is it gender-bending?

[NickBottom'sAss]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 11:06pm

My school is doing an all female production of Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty. The director decided to do this after callbacks for the show, so it was a total surprise. He proposed the show as two males and two females, but at the last second cast four females. I'm not sure if this is violating any laws, but as of now it is still happening...

What do people think of this?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 11:41pm

OP is talking not about gender bending drag casting, but about actually changing the gender of a character. Not Judith Anderson as Hamlet, Mary Martin as Peter Pan, Fiona Shaw as Richard II, Harvey as Edna or Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell.

I can certainly see Madame Armfeldt as a drag role, but it would be much more challenging to conceive of the character as Desiree's father rather than her mother.

However, in Smiles of a Summer Night, it is Desiree's son Frederik who lives with Madame Armfeldt, not her daughter Frederika, as in the musical.

Now back to OP's question.

We have a good test case about to open. David Gamble in the new adaptation of On A Clear Day. Neil Simon also has a female version of The Odd Couple, which I believe was first done with Rita Moreno and Sally Struthers (but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong). Mankiewicz adapted Volpone so that the three visitors to the deathbed were women (Susan Hayward, Capucine and Edie Adams), rather than men in The Honey Pot. There are countless examples of cross gender adaptations. I was once cast in an awful adaptation of The Seagull as a male Masha.

Not that I'd encouraqe taking liberties with Williams, but many of his heroines would be interesting to think of as men, and not just for the camp value of it. Consider Catherine in Suddenly Last Summer and Alma in Summer and Smoke. A Queen Lear with a female fool and three children not necessarily all daughters would be intriguing.

In musicals, I'd suggest a female El Gallo (La Gallina?) and a female MacHeath.









Updated On: 10/10/11 at 11:41 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 11:41pm

Magda Szubanski (to Americans, better known as Farmer Hoggett's wife from Babe) played William Barfee in the Aussie premiere of Spelling Bee. http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts-reviews/the-25th-annual-putnam-county-spelling-bee/2007/06/18/1182018972802.html

[TheHappyPhantom]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 11:59pm

Unless there is a scriptural reason for the casing it should NEVER be done. There is actually a difference between genders, unlike the man-made concept of race. Peter Pan was ruined for me as a child because it was played by an old woman and made no sense to me. People are not blind. We cannot ignore someone in drag miscast in a role, despite their talent.Unless you're drawing attention to it, it is not okay. It ruins a show.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 12:16am

I would love to see a man as Madame Armfeldt, ala Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell.

At the ART last year where Amanda Palmer was the Emcee in Cabaret, they had a man as Frau Schneider and friends who saw it said he was absolutely incredible - they forgot that it was a man playing the role.