In the production I did, we had a girl play Colin. She did a great job but I wished that the director had looked and casted a boy. In the Oliver thread, there were complaints on girls playing Oliver and the Artful Doger. I agree that if the role is meant to be play by a boy, give the boy a chance.

Mattie Hawkinson did at Northwestern several years ago. It's not unheard of.

I'd open the audition to both...I see it like in the case of Chip. At that age, both boys and girls voices sound in the same range and with the right costuming and makeup, can be taken for the other gender. So, I'd pick the best of either for those roles.

Would I prefer a boy? Yes. Would I rather prefer the better actor/actress? YES.

My highschool is doing Secret Garden this year. A girl is playing Collin. Our director auditioned boys, but none of them could hit the notes. He let a couple little boys audition, but decided against it. We had a real child play Gretle in Sound of Music. It did not work out well. I think it was a wise choice to cast an older girl. She's very short. She has short hair and is going to cut it even shorter. I think you cast whomever will be best for the production.

I've never seen a girl convincingly play a boy before. That's why I'm so against it. If you're not gonna have enough boys try out, do a different show. Recruit people. Do something.

Thank you. Good answer.

Thank you. Good answer.

For the MOST part I think it is not a great idea to cast girls as boys. However, there is maybe a COUPLE EXCEPTIONS. I have seen a FEW girls in my life time with very short haircuts that looked like men or little boy. There was a female who applied to Universal Studios as a ride operator. I honnestly could not tell if it was a him or her. The only way I could tell was there was no facial hair. But her voice was that of a 14 year old boy. She even had spiked hair. She might have been a lesbian for all i know, but this is NO JOKE. So if this woman(probably in her early 20's) looked like a 14 year old boy and could have the range of a saprano and act like a boy at the same time, then I would say CAST HER NOW. But there are not a whole lot of these types of people. It's sort works like this. Let's say you want to cast a Transvestite. You don't want to cast a person who just wants to make money buy putting girly clothes on. You wold need people who who the makeup, the clothes, the voice,and who has pratical experience--the whole schabang. excpet if that transvestite was your lead role, then you could make an exception. So now going back to the original subject--casting a girl to play a boy's part. Now, if you hire a girl that acts like a girl to be a boy--then that looks bad for the whole production. But if you can find a girl or even a short young woman in her early twenties that is probably a lesbian who has short hair and looks like a 14 year old boy and always acts like a tomboy yet can sing like a soprano, then I am all for it because I would BELIEVE that person in the play IS a LITTLE BOY and that is what I would see on stage. The only way I would find out that she was a woman playing a girl when to be look at program--unless she were to have a name like Courtney Wilmington. There are some DUDES named courtney. And I know of one example. Courtney who was a young man in his early 20's was a production assistant on grey's anatomy for 2 or 3 years. That is how I know there are dudes named Courtney. Wow. I took this subject to a whole new different level. But you guys get my point.

sorry- which level have you taken this dicussion to? I can't seem to see it.

Ideally, Colin should definitely be a boy. But given that there are far more girls in theatre (especially who enjoy singing!), Colin is one of the better roles that can be played by a little girl, seeing as the prepubescent male soprano voice has a similar range to a female's. For a high school or children's theatre, it is okay, but with a community theatre production with a mostly adult cast or professional theatre, Colin should definitely be a boy!

Stereotype to the most extreme degree. How lovely.

Nope... fact.