<p>My D has just been cast as the Jester in “Once Upon a Matresss” (still in HS). While she is an adaquate dancer, she is an awsome singer( a lyric soprano who can also belt- think of the other roles in this show and try to figure out the casting because I sure can’t!) but the vocal director has only a one thiurd say in the casting (along with the instrumetal dept.head and an English teacher) and this was the only way she could give my D a “featured” role.
Has anyone else ever done this? Appearantly, they are going to dress her as a girl (I know that Queen Elizabeth I had a female jester, but she was a midget, so…), which I would think would hamper the “Very Soft Shoes” number greatly. So, if anyone else has ever done one of these “gender-benders”,I’d be interested in knowing how it worked out.</p>
<p>I think that it is a wonderful part! It doesn’t matter that she is a female. In Seussical the Musical, the Cat In The Hat can be played by a male or female. The important thing is that she was cast in a featured role and will gain experience in character development. As a choreographer, I am constantly looking at the casting requirements to see if any characters could be played by either a boy or girl. There are always so many more girls involved in high school theatre, that it is often hard to give deserving students a role.</p>
<p>I’ve seen a couple of productions of Sweeney Todd that cast a woman as Toby. I think it would work well with the Jester role - did they make her an understudy at all? Because a belting lyric soprano…yeah, there’s another part in the show that would work well for her : )</p>
<p>I don’t need to tell this crowd that casting doesn’t always make sense to us, and that the sooner our kids accept that, the happier they will be (and us, too!) 
Lulu’sMomma, who knows all of the things that went into the decision, including the strengths and weaknesses of the other cast members, their ages and years in school, etc. And if they are going to make her a female jester, well, then there is no gender-bending going on at all! In addition, it is not that unusual (as another poster said) for girls to be cast in what are usually roles taken by boys, whether it be in Seussical or as the bottle dancers in Fiddler, etc., simply because there is an abundance of girls in musical theater at the high school level and far fewer boys. It’s a very good part and I imagine your daughter is thrilled.</p>
<p>Some great answers that I hadn’t thought of, thanks! It has just been odd that this is the second part in 3 months where she has been a featured dancer- I guess her dance teacher is doing better than I thought!</p>
<p>I haven’t been on the stage much in the last <em>mumble</em> years, but I always figured as long as I wasn’t the rear end of the horse, the part was a good one.</p>
<p>LOL, my D played the front end of a cow (in a production of Gypsy … she played Louise, but had to get in under that cow costume with another girl for one of Dainty June’s numbers) once, and reported it was fun, if stuffy and hot. :)</p>
<p>You beat me to it, Not Mama Rose! I was just going to ask if she was ever in Gypsy! Lord, I would really hate having to have to play that part- I can just imagine getting all tripped up and falling into the pit!</p>
<p>Boston Conservatory just recently put on Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe and had the fairies played by males and the parliment played by females. It was really cool.</p>
<p>My D has played an abundance of male parts and she is very unmale looking in her face but body wise can pass as a boy (she is a dancer). At times she has also had to sing the mens parts in ensemble pieces. She has not had the fun of a horse or cow though. D figures being cast as a man is better than not being cast at all. Just remond D to take off any jewlery. D discovered in her first paid role where she was Travis in Raisin that she had left a bracelet on and then spent too much time tryning to make sure it couldn’t be seen. (she was young).</p>
<p>A female jester would be great.</p>
<p>My D goes to an all girls school. They just did The Cruicble, all girls. It just showed how talented the Girls were when you forgot there were no boys in the cast. It was just great acting and actors.</p>
<p>Just chiming in to add that the BoCo production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe would not have been half as delightful if the genders had not been reversed. The actors, male and female, handled their roles with the right balance of restraint and fun, and were quite believable. What a challenge for the actors - and what a treat for the audience when they pulled it off!</p>
<p>I’ve done Once Upon a Mattress twice. Once, the role of the Jester was double cast with two females sharing the role. The second time was with a boy. There is nothing in the show that forces the director to cast a male in the part. Tell your daughter to enjoy it!</p>
<p>Echoing LocoMom, I attend an all-girls school where it’s natural to cast girls in guys’ roles. Here, the audience knows what to expect (no guys!) when they go to a play. The only time I saw Mattress, my male friend played the part. However, I’ve heard of the Jester being played by a girl before. She should have fun with it! And her teacher was vying for her to get a featured role- she should be proud. :)</p>
<p>Perhaps it helps to remember that back in Shakespeare’s time, it was considered unfitting for women to be actors, so all of the Bard’s female characters were played on stage by men. In addition, the same man played several roles in a single production, which meant he had to be a very good actor in order to convince an audience that just saw him playing one character that now – with a simple costume change – he is suddenly another. Heck, if it was good enough for Will, it ought to be good enough for us. :)</p>
<p>When our middle school did the play a few years ago, there were three female jesters. So, to tell you the truth, I didn’t know until now that there is only one jester who is supposed to be a boy!</p>
<p>mizlyn–Glad you liked Iolanthe. Did you have a child in it? My S (frosh MT) was a pink woodland fairy!! We were as thrilled for him to be a part of this production as he was! It really was well done and I would agree that the gender reversal was not over done or “over the top.” I think it is a great challenge and learning experience for any actor who gets to play a gender reversed part. I say run with it if you have the chance!</p>
<p>CT Mom - I’m pretty sure I know who your son is! My d lives one floor down from him and they are friends!!!</p>
<p>It’s a very small world here on CC, isn’t it? I just spoke to my S and he told me who your D is. One of his favorites! I met her once and she is adorable and so friendly. BTW—A HUGE THANK YOU for his scarf. That was so sweet.</p>
<p>CT Mom-
Ha Ha! You’re welcome! It is a small world…it all clicked when you said your son, Freshman in show, CT (in your screen name)…a lightbulb went off!!! Your son is a very nice young man, as well. From what I hear (and saw in the show) he is uber amazingly talented. My d is just in awe of his piano playing abilities.</p>