Male vs Female Roles

audreydarling · Male vs Female Roles

My school is considering this show as one of it's choices and I was just wondering how many male vs female roles there are. Also out of the how many of the male roles have to be good singers. Also can any of these male roles be translated to female roles?...please let me know (we are also considering Urinetown and Into the Woods) we really only have one guy who can sing and one girl with a trained high sop. voice (who is a junior which means she probably won't get the lead...but we can hope for the best) anyway it's really important for us to do a show that shows off people's strengths (we also have like two or three strong altos and a lot of very talented dancers.

musikal_geek

From memory, these are the main characters (I'm being a tad stereotypical here, so the pink ones are girls and the blue ones are guys... hehe):

Prince Dauntless
Princess Winnifred
Queen Agravain
King Sextimus (mute)
The Jester*
The Minstrel*
Sir Harry
Lady Larken
The Wizard*

Obviously, there are more males then females when it comes to leads. The *'s mean that the role is written for a male, but is sometimes played by a female. I do not reccomend doing that at all - it messes up the plot. Only make them females if you absolutely need to.

In terms of singing, the following roles need really good voices:
Prince Dauntless
Princess Winnifred
The Minstrel
Siry Harry
Lady Larken
The Jester

The rest can be spoken through most of the songs, save for The King who never speaks until the last scene (a curse was put on him).

For references, watching the 2005 Wonderful World of Disney movie will give you a great idea of the plot, but it's not a very good video. If you want to really learn what the stage show is like, I would suggest going to a library and borrowing (or ordering, because most libraries don't have it) a copy of the Broadway production, filmed in the 80's (I think).

If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me. Very Happy

dcrowley

Honestlty Dauntless doesn't need a good singing voice at all... Winnifred needs a strong belt, but it doesn't have to be pretty.

I think that the Minstrel and the Jester need good voices and good ranges... esp. the Minstrel who is sort of the narrator.

Lady Larken and Sir Harry need the "romantic lead" type of voices... they pretty much HAVE to sound pretty.

PappyCat

I agree...I improved my singing voice greatly while playing Fred, and my director said she preferred my brashy, untrained voice for Fred.

And our Wizard and Jester were played by women...didn't screw up the plot. Both were played as men, though, and you couldn't tell that they were women.

Here is my opinion on the singers:

Good Singers (As in, classically good)
Lady Larkin
Sir Harry
Jester
Minstrel

Strong Singers (Must sing with confidence and be listenable)
Winnifred
Dauntless
Aggravain

audreydarling	Male vs Female Roles My school is considering this show as one of it's choices and I was just wondering how many male vs female roles there are. Also out of the how many of the male roles have to be good singers. Also can any of these male roles be translated to female roles?...please let me know (we are also considering Urinetown and Into the Woods) we really only have one guy who can sing and one girl with a trained high sop. voice (who is a junior which means she probably won't get the lead...but we can hope for the best) anyway it's really important for us to do a show that shows off people's strengths (we also have like two or three strong altos and a lot of very talented dancers.
musikal_geek	From memory, these are the main characters (I'm being a tad stereotypical here, so the pink ones are girls and the blue ones are guys... hehe): Prince Dauntless Princess Winnifred Queen Agravain King Sextimus (mute) The Jester* The Minstrel* Sir Harry Lady Larken The Wizard* Obviously, there are more males then females when it comes to leads. The *'s mean that the role is written for a male, but is sometimes played by a female. I do not reccomend doing that at all - it messes up the plot. Only make them females if you absolutely need to. In terms of singing, the following roles need really good voices: Prince Dauntless Princess Winnifred The Minstrel Siry Harry Lady Larken The Jester The rest can be spoken through most of the songs, save for The King who never speaks until the last scene (a curse was put on him). For references, watching the 2005 Wonderful World of Disney movie will give you a great idea of the plot, but it's not a very good video. If you want to really learn what the stage show is like, I would suggest going to a library and borrowing (or ordering, because most libraries don't have it) a copy of the Broadway production, filmed in the 80's (I think). If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me.
dcrowley	Honestlty Dauntless doesn't need a good singing voice at all... Winnifred needs a strong belt, but it doesn't have to be pretty. I think that the Minstrel and the Jester need good voices and good ranges... esp. the Minstrel who is sort of the narrator. Lady Larken and Sir Harry need the "romantic lead" type of voices... they pretty much HAVE to sound pretty.
PappyCat	I agree...I improved my singing voice greatly while playing Fred, and my director said she preferred my brashy, untrained voice for Fred. And our Wizard and Jester were played by women...didn't screw up the plot. Both were played as men, though, and you couldn't tell that they were women. Here is my opinion on the singers: Good Singers (As in, classically good) Lady Larkin Sir Harry Jester Minstrel Strong Singers (Must sing with confidence and be listenable) Winnifred Dauntless Aggravain

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Male vs Female Roles