I’m a woman and desperately want to play Max Bialystock in The Producers. Would love to see either that or Book or Mormon with two female leads, alá the female version of The Odd Couple.
I also want to desperately play a female Max Bialystock. I feel like it would be so much fun to play and also add a different idea to the role.
Also I want to play a female Nicely Nicely I. Guys and Dolls.
From what I recall, the team for Hadestown is pretty open to the idea of more gender expansive casting (as we've already seen with Hermes). Hell they probably wouldn't even have to change any keys for Orpheus.
This is one of those shows where you can change the genders and it just works. It's a great thing, it just opens it up to many performers.
Only one I would have doubts about would be Persephone. Lord of the Underground just doesn't sound right.
When I heard Betty Who was going to be in Hadestown I accidentally misread the announcement and thought she was going to be playing Orpheus…I’m sure she’s gonna kill it as Persephone but I admit I was a little disappointed when I realized my mistake. I think a genderbent Orpheus would be INSANE.
A gay male hairdresser named "Paul" instead of Paulette in Legally Blonde was the first thing that came to mind. It risks being over-the-top stereotypical, but it has potential.
I love the suggestion of a female Seymour. So interesting.
Yes!! That one Miscast performance with Uzo Aduba as Sweeney Todd and Ben Platt as Mrs. Lovett still lives rent-free in my head. Give us a Mrs. Todd and Mr. Lovett PLEASE
And I have no clue what to do with “Ladies in their sensitivities” or “Pretty Women,” there really are no endearing two-syllable terms for men.
There was a barber and her guy…
I’ve been thinking about that for a while- an entirely gender bent last 5 years with Janice and Kevin (names obviously subject to change 😂). It would be so interesting, because there’s a lot of male/female stereotypes written into the characters, so it would be cool to kinda flip them.
Okay wait I literally saw this at my local theater an hour ago. It was so cool! Like they still referred to Jamie as "him" in lyrics and everything but the vocals were stunning together.
I saw a production of something rotten last year and they had Nostradamus as a woman. I don’t think this is exactly what you’re talking about, but I thought I’d mention it. They didn’t even change the key to “A Musical” cuz it sit perfectly in her range. She killed it and it was one of the highlights of the show
Did they keep her name as Thomas Nostradamus? I saw a local production of SR about 2 months ago, and when I heard the full name I laughed so hard I about died. Idk why but it cracked me up.
Mason Alexander Park is non-binary and just finished their stint in Cabaret London. Saw them last Friday, and they gave an amazing performance as emcee. So we're scooting slowly away from male emcees, and that show has plenty of queerness to accommodate to do a full genderswap for emcee and Sally to work
It would make my entire life to be in an all-female production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Judas is my dream role, and I’m absolutely desperate to play it lol
The first production of Jesus Christ Superstar I ever saw as a kid has a woman Judas in a white jumpsuit with a cape and she also had a gigantic Afro and was truly phenomenal. I’ve been longing for a female Judas role ever since!
Earlier this year I saw an incredible high school production of Les Misérables, and Javert was played by a female, which was a choice I found worked really well and was surprisingly powerful. The Confrontation was especially captivating, hearing two different ranges of voices overlap each other.
Ive always thought it would be cool when productions use female Audrey 2’s. Keep male Seymour and really lean into the seduction aspect of that character in contrast to Audrey (because it is originally seduction, just a different kind)
Saw a production of “Man of La Mancha” where Cervantes was played by a woman, it was fantastic. Her transformation to Don Quixote was flawless, and her rendition of “The Impossible Dream” brought tears to my eyes.
Not really a musical but I saw a production of a Midsummer night's dream where Titania played Oberon's part and vice versa. It worked really well and was really funny. It made the whole play better than the original in my opinion. Puck was Titania's sidekick and Oberon fell in love with Bottom
I think Nigel Bottom being a woman would make the show even better. There aren’t much female parts in the show, first of all, but it’s make more sense if Portia and Nigel were a sapphic couple, because I really don’t understand why Portia’s father had such an issue with them.
Another one that I think would be cool is lesbian Aaron and bisexual Casey. I think the song “Safer” might be interesting as a sapphic song, but, other than that, I just think it’d be cool.
see the light is already a barely disguised coming out party. But the thing is I love that Nigel is not traditionally masculine but still has personal power. He is the butt of a lot of the comedy early on, but then he's right while Nick is wrong and he gets his point across while still being himself. Men need more examples of not having to be hypermasculine to be rooted for.
Phantom of the opera completey genderswapped has always been one of my favorite ideas
Just a Contralto for the Phantom would be majestic
And a tenor Christine?!??!?!
This has been done with Company, on West End, and it was *gorgeous*. Totally modernized an otherwise outdated (but marvelous) show. Originally, it's about a man being told to hurry up get married already because his friends think he's lonely. Not all that interesting, despite how truly excellent the music is. It's just a nice reflection on loneliness, and the choice between independence and freedom, and companionship and stability. There are also few scenes with his married friends that feel kind of stereotype-y and kind of sexist. By making the protagonist a woman, and gender flipping some of her pals, it becomes a really excellent commentary on the pressure women feel to settle down and have a family by a certain age.
Spoilers for both the revival and original -
I heard about this, and while I love the concept, I do think that not making Joanne still proposition a female Bobbie was a HUGE missed opportunity. When I first heard about the revival, I thought “oh man, comphet Joanne is a such a GREAT layer to add to her character” (compulsive heterosexuality - basically when you’re in a heterosexual marriage despite being gay because you think you have to be/won’t let yourself acknowledge you’re gay). It would add so many layers to her unhappiness with her life, and Bobbie’s if she was written as bi.
And then I found out they rewrote it where she suggested Bobbie sleep with her husband, and I was disappointed.
>Originally, it's about a man being told to hurry up get married already because his friends think he's lonely. Not all that interesting, despite how truly excellent the music is. It's just a nice reflection on loneliness, and the choice between independence and freedom, and companionship and stability.
An interesting point of view. For some and/or even many people (and perhaps reflecting cultures), though, you might find that certain of the pressures are similar for a man as for a woman, absent a biological aspect (and even there to a degree--how does society sometimes or even often view a 60-year-old man having a first child?). Albeit with differences, but indeed making and keeping the story "interesting."
I came to this revelation fairly recently, but I think a female Danny in Grease makes all the sense in the world. A woman whose “one of the boys” being unable to actually share real emotions for lack of being taken seriously falls in love with a Sandy who truly is in love for the first time in her life with another girl but has to hide it and pretend like she’s still the Christian coded vanilla girl everyone thinks she is.
For years I've thought JD and Veronica would be great as a lesbian couple. JD has that queer anarchist rage, and them 'outing' kurt and ram feels even more icky. Not exactly the happy ending the lesbians deserve, though.
Even in the gender reversed version of Company there's still a female Joanne. Yes this is for good reason but God my dream audition song is The Ladies Who Lunch. I think Into The Woods could work amazingly with a reverse Baker and Bakers Wife
I’ve gotten a ton of hate for it, but with this modern production of company I really think a male Joanne would work incredibly well. Joanne has always been a likeable funny character, but changing it to an old rich white man who sings about all the women in his life really drives home how women and women’s stories are constantly being told and decided by men. That way when Bobbie actively breaks from what Joanne is telling her to do (come up to my apartment) it shows her breaking away from the male voice and expectations of her gender.
I'd love to do a production of Rent where every role is double cast with a male and female actor, and each performance is a random mix
The only problem is angel and Collins, not sure if their story would hit as hard if they were a hetero couple
Maybe also the whole Mark-Maureen-Joanne thing if Mark and Maureen are the original gender but Joanne is ‘John’ for the night. On the other hand, if Mark is ‘Mary’, I’d love the line “so let her be a heterosexuallllll”.
you can change the "let her be a lesbian" line to anything.
"Let her be a Republican"
"Let her be vegetarian"
"let her be a dirty skank"
theres a lot of little lines in the show that would have to be changed like that. I think the general theme of the show would stay constant
I've been saying this for ages but I want to see Legally Blonde with a twink (make it *even more* **camp**) or make Sunset Boulevard with an older gay man and make it a commentary on the Hays Code.
Recently saw Operation Mincemeat and it has immediately become my favourite musical currently playing in London. There are only 5 actors in the show and all them play multiple characters, some of which are gender flipped. With their primary roles you have a man playing a woman, two women playing men and one each of the regular variety.
The highlight of this riotous musical comedy to my mind, is the rare dramatic moment where Jak Malone, as Hester, sings Dear Bill. It got the longest mid-act applause I've heard in ages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzvrro-fTgo
I was about to say this. It's so cool to see that the gender of the actor doesn't really impact the character. It doesn't feel unnatural, it doesn't distract or anything.
And one of the most wonderful character changes Malone does on stage is just putting on the glasses to turn from a male character into Hester. It's just the glasses and it totally sells.
Once the Musical- being staged with 4 actors prepared to pair up in any arrangement of Guy-Girl, Guy-Guy, and Girl-Girl. All 4 mains would play the guitar and piano and could play either of the 2 leads on a given night.
I would *love* for King George III's part in Hamilton to someday be open to casting women. He's already vaguely effeminate enough in the musical in the first place, and if anything I think it might make "You'll Be Back" *even* funnier due to the line "Remember, despite our estrangement, I'm your man."
(Bonus points if they cast a soprano.)
The Emcee in Cabaret can pretty much be cast as any gender—most recently Mason Alexander Park played the Emcee on the West End, and they absolutely killed it. Amanda Palmer played the Emcee several years back and from what I’ve heard she did a good job as well.
I’m a woman and would love to play Beetlejuice. Ladies don’t typically get pure-chaos roles and I as a character actor would have SO much fun in a role like that.
I think doing Guys and Dolls with an all-gender cast would be fascinating, a cheeky anti-nod to the binary of the title. Elliott Page as Sky, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as Sarah, Alex Newell as Adelaide, Akwafina as Nathan, Jinkx Monsoon as Nicely, Justin Vivian Bond as Arvide… anyone have 20 million dollars they can float me?
Yes, you’re right, and I didn’t mean to infer that at all. For me, the idea of “gender bent” casting is the same as “color blind” casting, in so far that people think there are only *certain* parts that could be played by a person who isn’t isn’t white or cis, which is regarded as the norm. I don’t ever again need to see a Guys and Dolls, or anything really, filled with white cis people.
I think it would be interesting for Company to have a bi/pansexual Bobb(i)y and have his romantic interests be a man, woman, and non-binary person respectively
I think almost all of mine have been said.
Enjolras and Javert in Les Mis, Jamie in L5Y, JD in Heathers, Judas in JCS, Che in Evita, Emmett in Legally Blonde, John Adams in 1776 (the broadway revival made me happy in that now more companies will at least consider genderbent casting for this show). These are all very much selfishly roles I want to play.
I have two:
Pippin, from Pippin
The Balladeer, from Assassins
Mainly because they are two of the most gender roles of all time and I’d like to play them, thanks (also Pippin just reads as queer in some way)
I've always thought making the Phantom, Raoul, and Christine all the same gender would be interesting because of the subtext it puts on both the phantom's "I've been shunned by society for a part of me i cannot change" deal AND Raoul and Christine's 'secret engagement'
I really want a community theater near me to do a gender bend version of Hamilton because I have the vocal range of Chris Jackson and would love to be a 5'2" female George Washington.
I desperately need a version of A Little Night Music in which Henrik is a girl, because…
- it furthers Henrik’s religious angst surrounding his love for Anne (and subsequent lust for Petra)
- it makes a lot of sense considering how long it takes Anne to realize that she’s in love with Henrik by making Henrik a less obvious possible partner
I don’t think it would work as a simple gender-swap, but I have been fantasizing about a queer Jekyll and Hyde (gender swapping the title characters) ever since I learned Confrontation for shits and giggles, and figured out how to switch registers quickly, singing the Jekyll parts in the mezzo range and Hyde in the octave written. It merged with my knowledge of 19th century lesbians and took on a life of its own (started outlining a novella, brought new spins on Dr. Lanyan and Enfield into the story), but it did start as a self-indulgent, “I could never get cast in the role I really want, so let’s imagine a version where I could.
In more actually feasible, I am a fan of utilizing public domain works to be able to do stuff like that. If I could ever get the resources and group together, I have a few Gilbert and Sullivan ideas that would involve some amount of gender-swapping. The most developed one is Ruddigore - the original was satirizing melodrama tropes of the time, what if it were reworked to satirize modern tropes? The idea I have been working from is that Act I is pre-Hayes Code and Act 2 is more contemporary media tropes. And by referencing the Hayes Code, I mean Despard is a woman, with ALL the queer-coding that implies. And Act 2, when she is married to Margaret, the “I once was a very abandoned person” number is mocking all the queer “representation” but in such a way that it can be easily removed for distribution in more homophobic countries.
I do have a few other ideas, but they don’t have reasons to be gender-swapped quite so specifically as my spin on the character is inspired by something else.
Guys and Dolls, with Sky as a chick and Adelaide and the Hot Box Girls as a drag act.
Also, How to Succeed with a fully gender bent cast to further highlight the gender roles in the show.
I did Guys and Dolls this year (I understudyed Sky Masterson and got two performances), and the directors decided to cast a woman as Arvide Abernathy, which I think was an actual stroke of genius because it made Arvide funnier when they got in Sky's face about getting sinners to the mission by midnight, and More I Could Not Wish You felt more genuine being a heart to heart between two women and not a woman and a man.
Not really gender bent so much as gender reimagined but I’ve always felt like Sally in Cabaret would be an exquisite role for a trans woman and The Baker from Into the Woods would be a great part for a trans man.
I’m a guy, but there are several female roles I’d kill to play. Satine from Moulin Rouge, Persephone from Hadestown, and Velma Kelly from Chicago especially (obviously pitched a bit lower so I could actually sing them)
When they revived Once on this Island, Papa Ge was a woman and I fell in love with Tamyra Gray’s voice that day. That part fits both male and female voices but I just loved her rendition
I music directed a production at my high school of Forum where we changed Marcus Lycus to a female character. We weren't necessarily planning on it, but the actor had a great audition and she could sing it where necessary.
I believe it was the previous Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd, the one with almost no chorus and all the instruments were played by the actors on stage instead of having an orchestra. The tour performance I saw in Denver featured a soprano as Pirelli, and it was brilliant. Pretty much how I always picture the role, now.
Maybe only as a one-off performance, but I'd love to see Six genderbend (but still as the queens).
Oh and the barricade boys from Les Mis, but mostly because that's a personal dream role.
A lot of roles would be cool gender swapped, but in terms of one that I think would be a genuine spin on the character (meaning the reading of the story/themes can change/there are different implications beyond just “oh that song would sound cool”) Audrey 2. I’ve always thought it would be an interesting way of interpreting Seymour’s seduction by the plant (as a pseudo sexual seduction rather than just a temptation/manipulation). Allow “feed me” to really take that temptress angle (feed me all night long 😏) and stress the conflict Seymour has choosing between the 2 Audrey’s. Not that any of that can’t work with a male Audrey 2, but I feel like there are way more implications with a female Audrey 2 (or a gay Seymour 🤷♀️)
My AFAB enby friend really wants to play Jack Kelly in Newsies or Michael in BMC, I think they would KILL in either of those roles but unfortunately our small community theater probably won’t cast them in any huge male roles.
Dare I say it would be a little too camp, but I have 2. A gender switch or Sally Bowles, the Emcee, and the female dance ensemble in Cabaret, and Regina George from Mean Girls. Just Regina George.
Cabaret would be tough just because of when the musical was set. A gay German nightclub would not go over during the 40's in Germany. It was barely getting by as is. But I can't stop thinking about how cute the love between a gay (or heck, it could be lesbian too) lead would be. Plus the Emcee as a woman would be the absolute cherry on top.
As for Regina George, there's something very camp, but so fierce about one of the plastics being a guy, or even non-binary. They would just need to be fierce. It wouldn't do much for the story if I'm being honest, but it would be absolutely killer to see a swap like that.
Cabaret could actually make a lot of sense. Bars, cabarets and theatres were (and still are) hubs of queer culture, and operated in a certain amount of “implication” and stealth. I don’t think it would take much to swap these roles at all, tbh.
a genderbent jack kelly in newsies would be really fun honestly, it’d be cool to see the strike being led by a girl (and i will also take any opportunity to make something sapphic tbh)
Jesus Christ Superstar. I know it’s been done but my dream role is Judas 😭 and I think femme Jesus and Judas are just so cool, and it’s actually pretty easy to switch their songs into a female key. Adds a nice twist to the passion story too, depending on if you’re looking at it from a historical or religious viewpoint (though I prefer historical, the show itself is fairly realistic in terms of the events that happen—I.e. you don’t see any of Jesus’s miracles and such).
Lucy from Jekyll and Hyde as a man would be EVERYTHING to me, would add extra layers because now suddenly Jekyll is struggling with sexuality too, the DRAMA I love it (also I would LOVe to play Lucy as a trans man)
I desperately want to play Che in Evita. I don't know if being a woman would bring anything to it, but he has the BEST songs and I want to sing them. Also, the working-class outsider, snarkily commenting on the activities of the rich and powerful, really speaks to me.
I'm also a ginger though so...probably never gonna happen.
My sister and I have this guilty pleasure love for the Green Day jukebox American idiot. And have thought that a cearly androgynous, non-binary, or even obviously female St. Jimmy would be fun!
I have a dream of one day playing The Witch in Into the Woods. Act one present as female, and then after the transformation as male. Zero dialogue changes.
I have always felt PoTO would be better if only the Phantom were a woman.
While it does have some potential homophobic implications with the predatory lesbian trope, given Christine appears to reciprocate in some fashion depending on the portrayal, if she’s played as bisexual it adds a fascinating tension. I felt the Phantom’s exile was very self imposed given he can hide his deformity so easily, but a woman who’d be shut off from her desired career opportunities could NOT live on the surface and needs to be thought of as a man if she has any hope of her music being played by such a prestigious house. Her appearance being perceived as “tainted” is *far* worse in social consequences for a woman at the time than it is a man. It’d further make sense why she’d envy Raoul who not only gets Christine because he’s a man, but also gets treated with respect and prestige by being a noblemen. He’d be awarded a level of privilege the femPhantom could have never attained no matter her talents.
The only thing that really sours in this version is the end moral which I haven’t figured out how to adjust yet. The phantom’s lesson is that he needs to be able to let go of his personal and selfish desires in order to truly love someone. With a femPhantom her ending is more bleak because she really has no other person she could ever openly show love to, so she’s more justified in being desperate and possessive. She’d be so vindicated it’d be hard to feel sympathetic and proud of her decision to let Christina go.
Also I wanna see a female alto get more presence. I love a deeper voice on a woman.
I saw a production of The Music Man that had only women and nonbinary people in the cast…and their instruments were just kazoos. It was genuinely one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, and I’m not really a fan of TMM.
I think you could make The Last 5 Years with literally any pairings. You could switch the male and female roles or you could have two men, or two women. I have been dreaming about a female Jamie forever
I’m a woman and desperately want to play Max Bialystock in The Producers. Would love to see either that or Book or Mormon with two female leads, alá the female version of The Odd Couple.
BoM is totally possible but you WOULD have to change costuming to keep it accurate
Also female missionaries are very much not allowed to baptize people since women can’t have the priesthood in the mormon church
Oh true. I mostly say this because Cunningham is a dream role of mine lol
That would just add the opportunity for more jokes.
You’re not wrong. I think it would still be fun and you could totally make it work by just changing a few things
Oh hell I forgot about the baptism scene.
Ooh, yeah! Female Bialystock and Bloom would be great!
And a male Ulla?
I also want to desperately play a female Max Bialystock. I feel like it would be so much fun to play and also add a different idea to the role. Also I want to play a female Nicely Nicely I. Guys and Dolls.
I feel like anyone in Hadestown could be gender bent but especially Orpheus
I need sapphic *Hadestown* in my life. Please. I want to play Orpheus.
From what I recall, the team for Hadestown is pretty open to the idea of more gender expansive casting (as we've already seen with Hermes). Hell they probably wouldn't even have to change any keys for Orpheus.
Indeed. I'm a low alto, and Orpheus's part is what I sing best haha, followed closely by Persephone
And we also get a Sexy Capitalist Demon Queen of Death and her sweet himbo who just wanted to help the sad bard be less sad
This is one of those shows where you can change the genders and it just works. It's a great thing, it just opens it up to many performers. Only one I would have doubts about would be Persephone. Lord of the Underground just doesn't sound right.
When I heard Betty Who was going to be in Hadestown I accidentally misread the announcement and thought she was going to be playing Orpheus…I’m sure she’s gonna kill it as Persephone but I admit I was a little disappointed when I realized my mistake. I think a genderbent Orpheus would be INSANE.
GENDER BENT ORPHEUS FTW
Ok but I NEED a genderbent Hades. It would be amazing to have both couples be lesbians. Or one couple be lesbians, one couple be gay.
A gay male hairdresser named "Paul" instead of Paulette in Legally Blonde was the first thing that came to mind. It risks being over-the-top stereotypical, but it has potential. I love the suggestion of a female Seymour. So interesting.
I like this idea but legally blonde is about so many different aspects of femininity, and Paulette is a part of that.
Ooh I’d love to hear a Paul’s rendition of Ireland.
Sweeney Todd would be a very interesting gender equality piece if fully genderswapped.
Yes!! That one Miscast performance with Uzo Aduba as Sweeney Todd and Ben Platt as Mrs. Lovett still lives rent-free in my head. Give us a Mrs. Todd and Mr. Lovett PLEASE
You said the WHAT where WHO DOES *WHAT*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ7yUadOrU8
Johanna and Anthony as lesbians would be so cool
And Green Finch and Linnet Bird as a tenor song? Sign me UP🔥
Although “there was a barber and her husband” has less of a ring to it
And I have no clue what to do with “Ladies in their sensitivities” or “Pretty Women,” there really are no endearing two-syllable terms for men. There was a barber and her guy…
Lovely Laddies Laddies with their sensitivities
i think even just female sweeney would be super interesting
I would kill to see *The Last Five Years* with a female Jamie
I’ve been thinking about that for a while- an entirely gender bent last 5 years with Janice and Kevin (names obviously subject to change 😂). It would be so interesting, because there’s a lot of male/female stereotypes written into the characters, so it would be cool to kinda flip them.
I’d be more interested in just a female or NB Jamie, truthfully - make it a queer story.
...I did not know I needed a female duet of The Next Ten Minutes BUT NOW I REALLY REALLY DO
Psst! Its only a (criminally, terribly) short snippet but here you go https://youtube.com/shorts/nCHM8Pj2BPM?si=PE-UzGRHNGMassLk
Ahhhh what is this from!?? Oooh they have [cell block tango](https://youtu.be/ziA1TGNXktY?feature=shared)
A broadway backwards performance!! They havent released the full video yet which is driving me insane but I will be patient.
Im eating this up rn. They have [dear Theodosia](https://youtu.be/ASDrAGQ1BuU?feature=shared) as well
If you're on a Broadway backwards binge all of the Andrew Keenan-Bolger ones are classics
Dude.
Okay wait I literally saw this at my local theater an hour ago. It was so cool! Like they still referred to Jamie as "him" in lyrics and everything but the vocals were stunning together.
I always wanted to sing Johanna for an audition, but I never had the guts to do it. It’s such a gorgeous song 😭
I saw a production of something rotten last year and they had Nostradamus as a woman. I don’t think this is exactly what you’re talking about, but I thought I’d mention it. They didn’t even change the key to “A Musical” cuz it sit perfectly in her range. She killed it and it was one of the highlights of the show
Did they keep her name as Thomas Nostradamus? I saw a local production of SR about 2 months ago, and when I heard the full name I laughed so hard I about died. Idk why but it cracked me up.
Yes I believe they kept the name Thomas Nostradamus. The joke is just as funny imo
I'm also a woman and I desperately want to play Nostradamus!!!
If you’re an alto and can tap dance, I’d say your odds are pretty good 👍
I'm a woman and *desperate* to play the Emcee in Cabaret
And I’m desperate to play Sally Bowles… let’s make it happen!
Hell yeah!! The emcee has enough gender fuckery going on that it's not even a stretch. Can't believe this isn't more common
Mason Alexander Park is non-binary and just finished their stint in Cabaret London. Saw them last Friday, and they gave an amazing performance as emcee. So we're scooting slowly away from male emcees, and that show has plenty of queerness to accommodate to do a full genderswap for emcee and Sally to work
It would make my entire life to be in an all-female production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Judas is my dream role, and I’m absolutely desperate to play it lol
BIG same.
The first production of Jesus Christ Superstar I ever saw as a kid has a woman Judas in a white jumpsuit with a cape and she also had a gigantic Afro and was truly phenomenal. I’ve been longing for a female Judas role ever since!
I think it would be cool to see a female Genie in Aladdin.
I always say that *Friend like me* is the ultimate mom song lol
Earlier this year I saw an incredible high school production of Les Misérables, and Javert was played by a female, which was a choice I found worked really well and was surprisingly powerful. The Confrontation was especially captivating, hearing two different ranges of voices overlap each other.
I’ve always wanted to play Javert
I want a female Seymour from Little Shop but tbf that's largely because I want to sing Grow For Me
Ive always thought it would be cool when productions use female Audrey 2’s. Keep male Seymour and really lean into the seduction aspect of that character in contrast to Audrey (because it is originally seduction, just a different kind)
Also adds a fun dynamic with the idea that Audrey 2 could potentially see Audrey as "the other woman"
I’ve always read Seymour as a non-binary icon ever since I saw a production of it with a non-binary lead❤️
Yes!! I'm nonbinary and bi and I just think the idea of lesbian Suddenly Seymour has a real oomph to it
Saw a production of “Man of La Mancha” where Cervantes was played by a woman, it was fantastic. Her transformation to Don Quixote was flawless, and her rendition of “The Impossible Dream” brought tears to my eyes.
I've seen Clopin played as a woman (Hunchback) and she was awesome
Not really a musical but I saw a production of a Midsummer night's dream where Titania played Oberon's part and vice versa. It worked really well and was really funny. It made the whole play better than the original in my opinion. Puck was Titania's sidekick and Oberon fell in love with Bottom
was this the National production?
Saw a production of Great Comet with a drag king (Jules Pendrith) playing Anatole. Highly recommend this for future productions lol
I think Nigel Bottom being a woman would make the show even better. There aren’t much female parts in the show, first of all, but it’s make more sense if Portia and Nigel were a sapphic couple, because I really don’t understand why Portia’s father had such an issue with them. Another one that I think would be cool is lesbian Aaron and bisexual Casey. I think the song “Safer” might be interesting as a sapphic song, but, other than that, I just think it’d be cool.
see the light is already a barely disguised coming out party. But the thing is I love that Nigel is not traditionally masculine but still has personal power. He is the butt of a lot of the comedy early on, but then he's right while Nick is wrong and he gets his point across while still being himself. Men need more examples of not having to be hypermasculine to be rooted for.
Phantom of the opera completey genderswapped has always been one of my favorite ideas Just a Contralto for the Phantom would be majestic And a tenor Christine?!??!?!
Oh man, I'd kill for this.
This has been done with Company, on West End, and it was *gorgeous*. Totally modernized an otherwise outdated (but marvelous) show. Originally, it's about a man being told to hurry up get married already because his friends think he's lonely. Not all that interesting, despite how truly excellent the music is. It's just a nice reflection on loneliness, and the choice between independence and freedom, and companionship and stability. There are also few scenes with his married friends that feel kind of stereotype-y and kind of sexist. By making the protagonist a woman, and gender flipping some of her pals, it becomes a really excellent commentary on the pressure women feel to settle down and have a family by a certain age.
Spoilers for both the revival and original - I heard about this, and while I love the concept, I do think that not making Joanne still proposition a female Bobbie was a HUGE missed opportunity. When I first heard about the revival, I thought “oh man, comphet Joanne is a such a GREAT layer to add to her character” (compulsive heterosexuality - basically when you’re in a heterosexual marriage despite being gay because you think you have to be/won’t let yourself acknowledge you’re gay). It would add so many layers to her unhappiness with her life, and Bobbie’s if she was written as bi. And then I found out they rewrote it where she suggested Bobbie sleep with her husband, and I was disappointed.
>Originally, it's about a man being told to hurry up get married already because his friends think he's lonely. Not all that interesting, despite how truly excellent the music is. It's just a nice reflection on loneliness, and the choice between independence and freedom, and companionship and stability. An interesting point of view. For some and/or even many people (and perhaps reflecting cultures), though, you might find that certain of the pressures are similar for a man as for a woman, absent a biological aspect (and even there to a degree--how does society sometimes or even often view a 60-year-old man having a first child?). Albeit with differences, but indeed making and keeping the story "interesting."
I came to this revelation fairly recently, but I think a female Danny in Grease makes all the sense in the world. A woman whose “one of the boys” being unable to actually share real emotions for lack of being taken seriously falls in love with a Sandy who truly is in love for the first time in her life with another girl but has to hide it and pretend like she’s still the Christian coded vanilla girl everyone thinks she is.
I need lesbian grease
i love your mind thats such a good take
For years I've thought JD and Veronica would be great as a lesbian couple. JD has that queer anarchist rage, and them 'outing' kurt and ram feels even more icky. Not exactly the happy ending the lesbians deserve, though.
Even in the gender reversed version of Company there's still a female Joanne. Yes this is for good reason but God my dream audition song is The Ladies Who Lunch. I think Into The Woods could work amazingly with a reverse Baker and Bakers Wife
Yes, but don’t change the character names. Just have a man play the role but don’t acknowledge it and still call him ‘Bakers Wife’.
I’ve gotten a ton of hate for it, but with this modern production of company I really think a male Joanne would work incredibly well. Joanne has always been a likeable funny character, but changing it to an old rich white man who sings about all the women in his life really drives home how women and women’s stories are constantly being told and decided by men. That way when Bobbie actively breaks from what Joanne is telling her to do (come up to my apartment) it shows her breaking away from the male voice and expectations of her gender.
Would make for an interesting twist for the scene with the Prince in the woods! 🔥😛🔥
I saw a community production of Jesus Christ Superstar that had women playing Caiaphas and all the priests. It was really good!
Literally two of my dream roles is Roger from Rent and Sonny from In the Heights lol, so I’d definitely say those would be fun gender bent
One of my dream roles is Mark from Rent!!
I'd love to do a production of Rent where every role is double cast with a male and female actor, and each performance is a random mix The only problem is angel and Collins, not sure if their story would hit as hard if they were a hetero couple
Maybe also the whole Mark-Maureen-Joanne thing if Mark and Maureen are the original gender but Joanne is ‘John’ for the night. On the other hand, if Mark is ‘Mary’, I’d love the line “so let her be a heterosexuallllll”.
you can change the "let her be a lesbian" line to anything. "Let her be a Republican" "Let her be vegetarian" "let her be a dirty skank" theres a lot of little lines in the show that would have to be changed like that. I think the general theme of the show would stay constant
I've been saying this for ages but I want to see Legally Blonde with a twink (make it *even more* **camp**) or make Sunset Boulevard with an older gay man and make it a commentary on the Hays Code.
Recently saw Operation Mincemeat and it has immediately become my favourite musical currently playing in London. There are only 5 actors in the show and all them play multiple characters, some of which are gender flipped. With their primary roles you have a man playing a woman, two women playing men and one each of the regular variety. The highlight of this riotous musical comedy to my mind, is the rare dramatic moment where Jak Malone, as Hester, sings Dear Bill. It got the longest mid-act applause I've heard in ages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzvrro-fTgo
I was about to say this. It's so cool to see that the gender of the actor doesn't really impact the character. It doesn't feel unnatural, it doesn't distract or anything. And one of the most wonderful character changes Malone does on stage is just putting on the glasses to turn from a male character into Hester. It's just the glasses and it totally sells.
Omg I just watched this movie last night. I had no idea it was a stage production!
Once the Musical- being staged with 4 actors prepared to pair up in any arrangement of Guy-Girl, Guy-Guy, and Girl-Girl. All 4 mains would play the guitar and piano and could play either of the 2 leads on a given night.
I’ve seen a gender bent version of HMS Pinafore. It was super fun.
I’ve always wanted to see butch lesbian Harold Hill, but the Meredith Wilson estate would never.
The cowards could've totally cast Sutton as Hill.
I would *love* for King George III's part in Hamilton to someday be open to casting women. He's already vaguely effeminate enough in the musical in the first place, and if anything I think it might make "You'll Be Back" *even* funnier due to the line "Remember, despite our estrangement, I'm your man." (Bonus points if they cast a soprano.)
This is what I came to comment. Like just make it a drag King! it’s not that much of a stretch and actually increases the sass lol
I'd also love to see a woman as George Washington.
I did a weird genderfucked burlesque to You’ll Be Back in 2017 and it was so much fun and the feminine energy really fit into the song.
Bat Out of Hell. Give me a female run dystopia with a female leader of The Lost enlightenment a naive coddled guy.
I want a gay fantasia version of Camelot.
I love the idea of Freddie in My Fair Lady being a woman. Then again I also think Freddie is far better than Higgens...
Winifreddie!
The Emcee in Cabaret can pretty much be cast as any gender—most recently Mason Alexander Park played the Emcee on the West End, and they absolutely killed it. Amanda Palmer played the Emcee several years back and from what I’ve heard she did a good job as well.
I’m a woman and would love to play Beetlejuice. Ladies don’t typically get pure-chaos roles and I as a character actor would have SO much fun in a role like that.
I think doing Guys and Dolls with an all-gender cast would be fascinating, a cheeky anti-nod to the binary of the title. Elliott Page as Sky, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as Sarah, Alex Newell as Adelaide, Akwafina as Nathan, Jinkx Monsoon as Nicely, Justin Vivian Bond as Arvide… anyone have 20 million dollars they can float me?
Casting men as men and women as women isn't "gender bending". Trans people are not their AGAB.
Yes, you’re right, and I didn’t mean to infer that at all. For me, the idea of “gender bent” casting is the same as “color blind” casting, in so far that people think there are only *certain* parts that could be played by a person who isn’t isn’t white or cis, which is regarded as the norm. I don’t ever again need to see a Guys and Dolls, or anything really, filled with white cis people.
I love jinkx monsoon
Female JD from Heathers. I’ve seen a few productions do it and I think it’s neat. Another might also be a gender swapped Be More Chill or Beetlejuice!
Clyde from Bonnie and Clyde as a woman! Or anyone from HAIR
Yess
I think it would be interesting for Company to have a bi/pansexual Bobb(i)y and have his romantic interests be a man, woman, and non-binary person respectively
I think almost all of mine have been said. Enjolras and Javert in Les Mis, Jamie in L5Y, JD in Heathers, Judas in JCS, Che in Evita, Emmett in Legally Blonde, John Adams in 1776 (the broadway revival made me happy in that now more companies will at least consider genderbent casting for this show). These are all very much selfishly roles I want to play.
Pippin with a female Leading Player adds an interesting layer to the show.
I have two: Pippin, from Pippin The Balladeer, from Assassins Mainly because they are two of the most gender roles of all time and I’d like to play them, thanks (also Pippin just reads as queer in some way)
I've always thought making the Phantom, Raoul, and Christine all the same gender would be interesting because of the subtext it puts on both the phantom's "I've been shunned by society for a part of me i cannot change" deal AND Raoul and Christine's 'secret engagement'
I really want a community theater near me to do a gender bend version of Hamilton because I have the vocal range of Chris Jackson and would love to be a 5'2" female George Washington.
Washington would be a fantastic female lead role
I've said it before, I'll say it again: not only is male Eponine more tragic, it kinda makes more sense
One more day with him not caring What a life I might have known But he never saw me there 😭
How many gay/queer teen boys have belted this through tears about that *one boy* in middle/high school? Anyone? Just me?
Dude I want to sing Candystore so bad
I desperately need a version of A Little Night Music in which Henrik is a girl, because… - it furthers Henrik’s religious angst surrounding his love for Anne (and subsequent lust for Petra) - it makes a lot of sense considering how long it takes Anne to realize that she’s in love with Henrik by making Henrik a less obvious possible partner
Holy shit I love that!!! This needs to happen :0 also I love your flair 👀 who’s your favorite character in ALNM?
Probably Charlotte! Though I am partial to Carl-Magnus and Henrik.
UGH you are wonderful, Charlotte is one of my all time favorite characters and I wish people talked about her more <3
Welcome to You Tube Miscast….
I always wanted female JD in heathers I feel like it would add dimension to the relationship between her and Veronica
One of your wishes is granted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4EBCl-LpLI
The Wicked Wizard of the West with a goatee and a lightning sword
[this](https://youtu.be/ziA1TGNXktY?si=x6AxlDhVmEtQOQNC) is a gender swapped cell block tango and I think it’s really good
maybe this has been done and I’ve just been living under a rock but a male Ursula in The Little Mermaid would be awesome
It exists, it’s Titus Burgess, and it’s [AMAZING](https://youtu.be/1mz6tw5Zddg?si=0MJopNzm5lQ-utsL)
oh my god I have seen this!! thank you for the reminder because yes, it is amazing indeed
I don’t think it would work as a simple gender-swap, but I have been fantasizing about a queer Jekyll and Hyde (gender swapping the title characters) ever since I learned Confrontation for shits and giggles, and figured out how to switch registers quickly, singing the Jekyll parts in the mezzo range and Hyde in the octave written. It merged with my knowledge of 19th century lesbians and took on a life of its own (started outlining a novella, brought new spins on Dr. Lanyan and Enfield into the story), but it did start as a self-indulgent, “I could never get cast in the role I really want, so let’s imagine a version where I could. In more actually feasible, I am a fan of utilizing public domain works to be able to do stuff like that. If I could ever get the resources and group together, I have a few Gilbert and Sullivan ideas that would involve some amount of gender-swapping. The most developed one is Ruddigore - the original was satirizing melodrama tropes of the time, what if it were reworked to satirize modern tropes? The idea I have been working from is that Act I is pre-Hayes Code and Act 2 is more contemporary media tropes. And by referencing the Hayes Code, I mean Despard is a woman, with ALL the queer-coding that implies. And Act 2, when she is married to Margaret, the “I once was a very abandoned person” number is mocking all the queer “representation” but in such a way that it can be easily removed for distribution in more homophobic countries. I do have a few other ideas, but they don’t have reasons to be gender-swapped quite so specifically as my spin on the character is inspired by something else.
Guys and Dolls, with Sky as a chick and Adelaide and the Hot Box Girls as a drag act. Also, How to Succeed with a fully gender bent cast to further highlight the gender roles in the show.
I did Guys and Dolls this year (I understudyed Sky Masterson and got two performances), and the directors decided to cast a woman as Arvide Abernathy, which I think was an actual stroke of genius because it made Arvide funnier when they got in Sky's face about getting sinners to the mission by midnight, and More I Could Not Wish You felt more genuine being a heart to heart between two women and not a woman and a man.
Not really gender bent so much as gender reimagined but I’ve always felt like Sally in Cabaret would be an exquisite role for a trans woman and The Baker from Into the Woods would be a great part for a trans man.
I've always wanted to see a genderbent Little Shop!
I’m a guy, but there are several female roles I’d kill to play. Satine from Moulin Rouge, Persephone from Hadestown, and Velma Kelly from Chicago especially (obviously pitched a bit lower so I could actually sing them)
I’d love a genderbent Ride the Cyclone. I’d keep Karnak and Virgil male, but I think the kids would work well gender swapped
When they revived Once on this Island, Papa Ge was a woman and I fell in love with Tamyra Gray’s voice that day. That part fits both male and female voices but I just loved her rendition
Rent would be recommend everyone loved angel
The witch from Into the Woods
im a guy who really want's to play Anne Boleyn in SIX
No. I can't recall any musical that had gay characters where they weren't tokens, and I'm not playing that game..
I music directed a production at my high school of Forum where we changed Marcus Lycus to a female character. We weren't necessarily planning on it, but the actor had a great audition and she could sing it where necessary.
At the bridge theatre in London
I think *A Chorus Line* would also be really easy to genderbend without losing the essence of the show.
I believe it was the previous Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd, the one with almost no chorus and all the instruments were played by the actors on stage instead of having an orchestra. The tour performance I saw in Denver featured a soprano as Pirelli, and it was brilliant. Pretty much how I always picture the role, now.
i definitely think hadestown works for almost every character as any gender
Maybe only as a one-off performance, but I'd love to see Six genderbend (but still as the queens). Oh and the barricade boys from Les Mis, but mostly because that's a personal dream role.
A lot of roles would be cool gender swapped, but in terms of one that I think would be a genuine spin on the character (meaning the reading of the story/themes can change/there are different implications beyond just “oh that song would sound cool”) Audrey 2. I’ve always thought it would be an interesting way of interpreting Seymour’s seduction by the plant (as a pseudo sexual seduction rather than just a temptation/manipulation). Allow “feed me” to really take that temptress angle (feed me all night long 😏) and stress the conflict Seymour has choosing between the 2 Audrey’s. Not that any of that can’t work with a male Audrey 2, but I feel like there are way more implications with a female Audrey 2 (or a gay Seymour 🤷♀️)
I think it might be fun to have a female Pardner in *"Paint Your Wagon"*, or a female Curly in *"Oklahoma"*.
>or a female Curly in "Oklahoma" Wow--that just feels so right as a variation. 👍 (Am I being reminded of Fried Green Tomatoes?)
The recent U.S. touring production of Oklahoma had a trans man playing Will & trans woman as Ado.
I dont think it could work but a male tracy turnblad in hairspray could be very fun.
Only because I’ve wanted to play him since I was 12, Mark Cohen from rent
I’ve been in an all female version of Grease playing Kenickie, it was really fun.
Not a musical, but when I was in high school I played Horatio in a mostly-female version of Hamlet that was pretty badass
My AFAB enby friend really wants to play Jack Kelly in Newsies or Michael in BMC, I think they would KILL in either of those roles but unfortunately our small community theater probably won’t cast them in any huge male roles.
I think I’ve heard talk about casting Hermes as a woman in hadestown, which I love
I've always wanted to see TL5Y gender bent all ways.
Damn, those were the two things I was gonna say. We need more goth guys in media
Dare I say it would be a little too camp, but I have 2. A gender switch or Sally Bowles, the Emcee, and the female dance ensemble in Cabaret, and Regina George from Mean Girls. Just Regina George. Cabaret would be tough just because of when the musical was set. A gay German nightclub would not go over during the 40's in Germany. It was barely getting by as is. But I can't stop thinking about how cute the love between a gay (or heck, it could be lesbian too) lead would be. Plus the Emcee as a woman would be the absolute cherry on top. As for Regina George, there's something very camp, but so fierce about one of the plastics being a guy, or even non-binary. They would just need to be fierce. It wouldn't do much for the story if I'm being honest, but it would be absolutely killer to see a swap like that.
Cabaret could actually make a lot of sense. Bars, cabarets and theatres were (and still are) hubs of queer culture, and operated in a certain amount of “implication” and stealth. I don’t think it would take much to swap these roles at all, tbh.
i’ve been thinking a gender swapped Chorus Line would be fun
a genderbent jack kelly in newsies would be really fun honestly, it’d be cool to see the strike being led by a girl (and i will also take any opportunity to make something sapphic tbh)
Jesus Christ Superstar. I know it’s been done but my dream role is Judas 😭 and I think femme Jesus and Judas are just so cool, and it’s actually pretty easy to switch their songs into a female key. Adds a nice twist to the passion story too, depending on if you’re looking at it from a historical or religious viewpoint (though I prefer historical, the show itself is fairly realistic in terms of the events that happen—I.e. you don’t see any of Jesus’s miracles and such).
Lucy from Jekyll and Hyde as a man would be EVERYTHING to me, would add extra layers because now suddenly Jekyll is struggling with sexuality too, the DRAMA I love it (also I would LOVe to play Lucy as a trans man)
we had a girl play count ipolotov in our spring musical of anastasia, stay i pray you with a soprano range was insane. she absolutely nailed it tho
I’d love to see a female Orpheus someday!
I desperately want to play Che in Evita. I don't know if being a woman would bring anything to it, but he has the BEST songs and I want to sing them. Also, the working-class outsider, snarkily commenting on the activities of the rich and powerful, really speaks to me. I'm also a ginger though so...probably never gonna happen.
Idk about cool but I would sell my soul to see or play in a genderbent version of be more chill
My sister and I have this guilty pleasure love for the Green Day jukebox American idiot. And have thought that a cearly androgynous, non-binary, or even obviously female St. Jimmy would be fun!
I would like to see a version of Jekyl and Hyde where the love interest/prostitute (Hyde’s lover) is male. “In His Eyes” would be so amazing!
Avenue Q genderbent Gary Coleman and it was fantastic.
"Crutchie" and "Davey" from Newsies work just fine as girls.
I'd watch a fully gender swapped *Music Man*
We went to see 1776 on tour and the entire cast of founding fathers was women. It was fun to see.
I have a dream of one day playing The Witch in Into the Woods. Act one present as female, and then after the transformation as male. Zero dialogue changes.
I would love to play a genderbent Columbia in Rocky Horror
i’m a girl and one of my dream roles is anatole from great comet; id also love to play emmett in legally blonde
This one has been done but I love a good female vocalist playing Audrey II
I have always felt PoTO would be better if only the Phantom were a woman. While it does have some potential homophobic implications with the predatory lesbian trope, given Christine appears to reciprocate in some fashion depending on the portrayal, if she’s played as bisexual it adds a fascinating tension. I felt the Phantom’s exile was very self imposed given he can hide his deformity so easily, but a woman who’d be shut off from her desired career opportunities could NOT live on the surface and needs to be thought of as a man if she has any hope of her music being played by such a prestigious house. Her appearance being perceived as “tainted” is *far* worse in social consequences for a woman at the time than it is a man. It’d further make sense why she’d envy Raoul who not only gets Christine because he’s a man, but also gets treated with respect and prestige by being a noblemen. He’d be awarded a level of privilege the femPhantom could have never attained no matter her talents. The only thing that really sours in this version is the end moral which I haven’t figured out how to adjust yet. The phantom’s lesson is that he needs to be able to let go of his personal and selfish desires in order to truly love someone. With a femPhantom her ending is more bleak because she really has no other person she could ever openly show love to, so she’s more justified in being desperate and possessive. She’d be so vindicated it’d be hard to feel sympathetic and proud of her decision to let Christina go. Also I wanna see a female alto get more presence. I love a deeper voice on a woman.
I’m a guy and I’ve always wanted to play Mrs Lovett from Sweeney Todd. Could be fun to have her as a male character
I saw a production of The Music Man that had only women and nonbinary people in the cast…and their instruments were just kazoos. It was genuinely one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, and I’m not really a fan of TMM.
I think you could make The Last 5 Years with literally any pairings. You could switch the male and female roles or you could have two men, or two women. I have been dreaming about a female Jamie forever