Not really related to gender gaps- but relevant for all our kids in the performance world
^^ C’mon girls (and boys) - create your own success.
I’m looking forward to the upcoming gender-swapped Broadway revival of Hamilton (a girl can dream).
@actorparent - I finally had time to read the encouraging article you linked. I LOVE this film trend of women getting roles written for men - hope it spreads to the MT world soon!
Interesting article in PlayBill today discussing findings of recent research into women working on Off-Broadway productions in offstage capacities…
I was reminded of this thread yesterday as I watched our new Prime Minister being sworn in. He fulfilled a campaign promise of appointing women to 50% of cabinet posts, and there is true diversity overall. A true progressive.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/11/04/trudeaus-cabinet-prospects-found-for-rideau-hall.html
@MomCares Ha, ha, well, it is called Hamilton!
I recently saw a college production of a Shakespeare classic featuring an all-female cast. It was directed by a woman who founded an all-female, multi-cultural Shakespeare theatre company and she is well established in that genre and more or less making a career of it. You know, there is actually a big difference between playing traditionally male characters as females which I assume relies heavily on clever re-writing and direction in order for it to make sense vs. having females play male characters. The latter is what I saw. Fairly sure that there are not a ton of college-aged women that have experience playing men as men. It’s a skill to do it convincingly and though some of the women came pretty darn close you knew if that were really a thing they did for a living, there would be more work to do all the way around. It’s not easy. Made me wonder how true to character all of those Shakespearian era men were at embodying a true female character.
S was in a HS acting studio where the kids were intentionally cast to push them out of their comfort zones. S was cast as Julien in a homosexual version of Romeo and Juliet. Female students were cast as Julien’s fiancee and as members of the feuding families. While the casting changed the tone somewhat, it really brought home how universal Shakespeare’s stories and characters are. It was especially interesting to see Mercutio played with a female spin. There was no problem seeing the character interplay as “real”.
Here is an article in this week’s Playbill about a current running production in NYC of Shakespeare’s Henry IV with an all female cast:
Thought I would add awareness/information to this thread about The Lilly Awards which were created to fight for gender parity in productions nationwide, and celebrate the work of women in theatre.
More information on the Lilly Awards website…
Saw this in the latest New Yorker re: gender reversed casting: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/16/womens-work-an-all-female-shakespeare-company
Here’s a new musical featuring two roles that are about two successful real life women…
Here’s another issue that a woman who produced an all-female show had to deal with:
http://howlround.com/why-i-will-never-produce-another-all-female-outdoor-show-again
^ That is the most sexist piece of cr@p I have ever read. Embarrassingly written by a woman.
HAMILTON’s Lin-Manuel Miranda is ‘Totally Open’ to Women Playing The Founding Fathers
http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/HAMILTONs-Lin-Manuel-Miranda-is-Totally-Open-to-Women-Playing-The-Founding-Fathers-20151113
@lojosmo - I assumed he would be, but was disappointed that some women weren’t cast in those roles in the initial productions, and that the roles that were written for women aren’t a bit (a lot) meatier. And no, I wasn’t the person who asked him the question… hah! 
The flame is tiny, but it flickers on. . .http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-women-of-hollywood-speak-out.html?WT.mc_id=2015-NOVEMBER-FB-MC9-AUD_DEV-1101-1130&WT.mc_ev=click&ad-keywords=AUDDEVREMARK&_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/12/01/us/ap-us-theater-waitress.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
Yay for the ladies!
Here’s an article: Jeanine Tesori on why musical theatre is slow to recognize its gender problem
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/stage/broadway-composer-jeanine-tesori-on-why-musical-theatre-is-the-slowest-to-recognise-it-has-a-gender-problem-20151201-glcc9o.html