Angel-of-Music*
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Best Role?Which do you think is the best role in seussical which can be played by a female, i've been told the cat in the hat can be played by either..
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Salome
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I hate when they make the Cat a female.
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kitty17794
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That's your opinion, but it wasn't exactly what the question asks. 
I've heard that most girls go after Miss Mayzie. So that seems to be the popular female role in that show. She plays a big part in the show too, from what I understand. (Never seen it, but have a friend who played the role once.) She most certainly thought it was the best role in the show.
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i'm_back
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didn't Rosie O'Donnel play the Cat once?
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Angel-of-Music*
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salome, to be honest i dont think much of a female cat either, but theres limited boys at the youth theatre i go to, and most main roles are converted to girls, we had a female joseph last time  i was just wondering if the cat is a bigger role than the female parts. and if its not the best role for a girl, then what is 
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pish123c
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The Cat is the biggest role in the show.
And yes, Rosie O Donnel played the cat on Broadway. Plus, at the school I went to last year, this year they did Seussical, and the cat was a girl. She was great! I see no problem with it. It's not like there are gender references.
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Baker
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| Angel-of-Music* wrote: | | we had a female joseph last time |
Please tell me that this a joke.
Anyway, the only really "main" female characters in Seussical are Gertrude and Mayzie. The Bird Girls are pretty big, but they are a traditionally a trio and just mostly do back up and narrating. Gertrude is a sweet little bird who only has one tail and is in love with Horton the Elephant - and she thinks that he doesn't notice her because she's so plain. Mayzie, on the other hand, once only had one tail, but she went to a doctor and took a special pill that gave her many, many feathers so she is now the most beautiful bird in the Jungle of Nool. Mayzie is played almost like a Las Vegas showgirl.
And I also hate it when the Cat is a female.
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Sweeney Hyde
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I have seen it both ways...it doesn't make too much of a difference to me...both did took the role in different ways. That's one of the things that is nice about it.
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MsDivaKate
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| Angel-of-Music* wrote: | | salome, to be honest i dont think much of a female cat either, but theres limited boys at the youth theatre i go to, and most main roles are converted to girls, we had a female joseph last time i was just wondering if the cat is a bigger role than the female parts. and if its not the best role for a girl, then what is |
If there's limited guys in your youth theatre why don't the directors pick shows that better fit your cast/have roles that can easily be gender bended with no issues. A female Joseph just seems to mess everything up? What about his seduction by Potipher's wife?? Kind of significant to the storyline.
To answer the Seussical question though, I'd say Mayzie is what most girls want, but Gertrude shouldn't be overlooked either.
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Patrick
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Isn't jojo sometimes a girl?
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Sweeney Hyde
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| Patter um er wrote: | | Isn't jojo sometimes a girl? |
I'm not sure if that would work just because the parents send him to the military academy and they have the whole, "That's what makes a boy a man" thing.
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kitty17794
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If you do Jr. version it doesn't matter though, cause the military scene is cut. My friend's show had a female Jojo too.
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lovethestage
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Most girls I know, at least, are dying for Gertrude. I don't even like that part, truthfully. It seems boring to me.
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Angel-of-Music*
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| Baker wrote: | | Angel-of-Music* wrote: | | we had a female joseph last time |
Please tell me that this a joke.
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Nope not a joke, it wasnt actually THAT terrible, it was only chosen because they couldn't afford the rights for anything else at the time. it got really good reveiws suprisingly, and was apparently the best we'd done. As for the seduction thing, we couldnt really do a very "sexy" one anyway because it is a childrens group and most of the kids are about 8. but we just did a bit of a dance routine and it worked just fine. I still think it would have been better if we could have gotten a boy, but if we couldnt even find enough boys to fill the brothers roles i doubt we would have gotten a half decent male joseph.
Thanks for the help 
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MsDivaKate
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| Angel-of-Music* wrote: | | Baker wrote: | | Angel-of-Music* wrote: | | we had a female joseph last time |
Please tell me that this a joke.
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Nope not a joke, it wasnt actually THAT terrible, it was only chosen because they couldn't afford the rights for anything else at the time. it got really good reveiws suprisingly, and was apparently the best we'd done. As for the seduction thing, we couldnt really do a very "sexy" one anyway because it is a childrens group and most of the kids are about 8. but we just did a bit of a dance routine and it worked just fine. I still think it would have been better if we could have gotten a boy, but if we couldnt even find enough boys to fill the brothers roles i doubt we would have gotten a half decent male joseph.
Thanks for the help |
Are you telling me that Joseph is the cheapest thing out there???? I really can think of a slew of other shows where you wouldn't have to cross gender cast that would have cheap royalties. Shame on your directors for not making better selections.
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Salome
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| kitty17794 wrote: | | If you do Jr. version it doesn't matter though, cause the military scene is cut. My friend's show had a female Jojo too. |
yes. but junior versions suck. I dont know why people do them.
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Angel-of-Music*
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| MsDivaKate wrote: |
Are you telling me that Joseph is the cheapest thing out there???? I really can think of a slew of other shows where you wouldn't have to cross gender cast that would have cheap royalties. Shame on your directors for not making better selections. |
We're a youth organisation, which is classed as educational. so we got the rights for schools price, which seeing as it was written for schools was relatively cheap compared to any of the other shows we've done
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MsDivaKate
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| Angel-of-Music* wrote: | | MsDivaKate wrote: |
Are you telling me that Joseph is the cheapest thing out there???? I really can think of a slew of other shows where you wouldn't have to cross gender cast that would have cheap royalties. Shame on your directors for not making better selections. |
We're a youth organisation, which is classed as educational. so we got the rights for schools price, which seeing as it was written for schools was relatively cheap compared to any of the other shows we've done |
I've done youth theatre too, as well as high school theatres in years where there was no school budget. We never had a ton of guys. We never had to resort to casting females in a HUGELY male role. Some roles like stewards and one line parts you can gender bend. Others? Not so much.
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PappyCat
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Both times we did a MAJOR Gender-bender (Cogsworth was played by a female, but portrayed as a male and the Jester was played by a female and portrayed ambiguously) it was because the person best for the role was a female.
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Luc
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| Salome wrote: | | kitty17794 wrote: | | If you do Jr. version it doesn't matter though, cause the military scene is cut. My friend's show had a female Jojo too. |
yes. but junior versions suck. I dont know why people do them. |
Because they are perfect for kids. Same storyline, mostly the same music, basically the same book, and typically only an hour long - really great for schools and youth theatre programs. You're right, they're not as good as the full-length show, but for many companies the full length show is just too much.
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Angel-of-Music*
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| MsDivaKate wrote: |
I've done youth theatre too, as well as high school theatres in years where there was no school budget. We never had a ton of guys. We never had to resort to casting females in a HUGELY male role. Some roles like stewards and one line parts you can gender bend. Others? Not so much. |
we always have to gender bend.
our prince charming in cinderella was female too.
considering theres only 1 lad over the age of ten that shows up half the time (theres another two but they never really tend to show up, so not so good for main roles.) i think we would do well to cast any show with the correct gender.
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Salome
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| Angel-of-Music* wrote: | | MsDivaKate wrote: |
I've done youth theatre too, as well as high school theatres in years where there was no school budget. We never had a ton of guys. We never had to resort to casting females in a HUGELY male role. Some roles like stewards and one line parts you can gender bend. Others? Not so much. |
we always have to gender bend.
our prince charming in cinderella was female too.
considering theres only 1 lad over the age of ten that shows up half the time (theres another two but they never really tend to show up, so not so good for main roles.) i think we would do well to cast any show with the correct gender. |
if you have to gender bend..DON"T DO THE SHOW!!!
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Angel-of-Music*
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Then we simply wouldnt be able to do any shows at all. Besides, we make do just fine with the gender bending, or would you rather a perfectly fine theatre group with quite a lot of talented youth in it shut down simply because a few roles are changed. its not like we're making them played as a female, its just a female playing a male. plus it gets people used to playing characters extremely different from themselves, i mean, if a girl can play a man convinceingly then she has learned the tools she needs to play any other type of character convincely.
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AK50324
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Our school's show had Jojo and the Cat played by girls.
Of course, they were the two bets singer/actresses at the school, and they interacted amazingly.
So it COULD work.
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*BroadwayLights*
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| Sweeney Hyde wrote: | | Patter um er wrote: | | Isn't jojo sometimes a girl? |
I'm not sure if that would work just because the parents send him to the military academy and they have the whole, "That's what makes a boy a man" thing. |
yes jojo is sometimes a girl. I played JoJo for my high school last year, and now I am in the community theater production as Gertrude. Gertrude and Mayzie are definitely the two roles most girls try out for, but from my personal opinion I wanted Gertrude more than Mayzie.
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audreykrelbourne643
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Personally, I think Gertrude is the best. She's a round character-she changes during the course of the show. She also has cute songs and is a fun character to play. I'm auditioning for her in the fall.
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