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Original Cast Precedent: Difference between revisions
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Doesn't it sometimes seem like, when someone does ''[[Jesus Christ Superstar]]'', Judas is always black?
This may not technically be
Whether or not this refers only to things not listed in the script or things that ''may'' be listed in the script but are irrelevant to the characters and story is up for debate.
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{{examples}}
* In ''[[Into the Woods]]'', the actor who plays Cinderella's Prince doubles as the Wolf,
▲* In ''[[Into the Woods]]'', the actor who plays Cinderella's Prince doubles as the Wolf, the the [[Narrator]] as the Mysterious Man, and Cinderella's Mother as Granny and the Giant. This is not a script-based necessity, merely a tradition established by the original Broadway production.
** It also makes thematic sense, especially between the Prince and Wolf and the Narrator and Mysterious Man.
* Nathan Lane [[Trope Codifier|codified]] the performance of [[The Producers|Max Bialystock]], so much so that in a brief [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|Fourth Wall-breaking moment]] in "Betrayed," Max will pull out a ''Playbill'' and remark "He's good, but he's no Lane!".
* Inverted with ''[[Pippin]]''. The Leading Player was originally played on Broadway by Ben Vereen. However, there really is no typical image of the Leading Player, and 'he' is as often a 'she' as not, and of all different ethnicities, body types, and ages (as long as he/she is older than Pippin). Pretty much the only stereotype of this role is that it's hardly ever played by a white male.
** Another example is that the original actor for ''Pippin'' had absolutely no luck with the costume department in regards to shoes. He could never find a pair of shoes that were comfortable, so one night, fed up, he decided to do the whole show barefoot. It wasn't easy. In his dressing room after the curtain call, Bob Fosse (the choreographer) came in. The actor prepared himself for a grovelling apology, but instead Fosse gushed, "I love it! Barefoot! Gives you that innocence." Since then, Pippin is ''always'' barefoot.
* This is probably where the utterly ridiculous tradition of [[Age Lift|casting a middle-aged man as Hamlet]] came from: Richard Burbage, who originated most of the titular roles in Shakespeare's tragedies, was in his late thirties or forties when he originated this role. This is mostly justified by the equally ridiculous throwaway line in the uncut text about Hamlet being thirty, or possibly because people feel someone in their late teens wouldn't have the acting range to pull off Hamlet, but even so, some of the actors who have played him have been most [[Laurence Olivier|definitely]] ''not'' thirty. It long ago reached the point where "I played Hamlet!" is fictional shorthand for "I've done more theater shows than you can ''count''!"
* In ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'', Mrs. Lovett is almost always cast a little on the plump side or blowsy, like [[Angela Lansbury]] as opposed to the equally (perhaps ''more'') likely possibility of her being thin and bony. Christine Baranski is one of the few skinny Mrs. Lovetts.
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* Utterson in ''[[Jekyll and Hyde (theatre)|Jekyll and Hyde]]'' tends to be played by a black actor, despite no particular reason for this.
* Higgins' songs in ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' were meant to be sung, not spoken, but many portrayers follow the precedent of original non-singer Rex Harrison.
** And has there ever been a production of ''Camelot'' with an Arthur who could sing? The original Arthur was [[Richard Burton (actor)|Richard Burton]], and Richard Harris played the role in the movie and later on stage.
*** Indeed, it's a tradition for any big budget version of ''Camelot'' to have Arthur played by a respectable movie star with little or no singing experience (Burton, Harris, Laurence Harvey, Gabriel Byrne, Michael York) or someone who made their theatre career singing that way (Jeremy Irons
* The role of [[Peter Pan]] has almost always been played by a woman.
** Similarly, the children's father and Captain Hook are generally played by the same person. (Though Barrie originally wanted ''Mrs.'' Darling to be the actress to play Captain Hook... make of that what you will.) Also, in [[The Musical]] at least, the role of Eliza, the maid, is typically doubled with that of Tiger Lily.
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** And for ''Alice In Wonderland'' in general, the main time when you ''do'' see a dark-haired Alice is when the story's been [[Grimmification|Grimmified]]. (Though this isn't done in ''every'' dark retelling. Just a lot of them.) Perhaps this is because it makes her look more like a goth.
* Revivals of ''The Cradle Will Rock'' often do without costumes, scenery or orchestra; the original production (which was directed by [[Orson Welles]], by the way) did this out of necessity when the actors were locked out of the theatre it was supposed to open in.
* The voice of the [[Man-Eating Plant]] in ''[[Little Shop of Horrors]]'' is usually that of a black singer, though his (real) face is
** Audrey is nearly always blonde, or given a blonde wig.
* Zero Mostel had a huge influence on future portrayals of the characters he played. Most notably Tevye from ''[[Fiddler
* ''[[Guys and Dolls]]''
* Broken with the Red Bird in [[Cirque Du Soleil]]'s ''[[Mystere]]''
* In ''[[Phantom of the Opera]]'' Christine is almost always a brunette. It should be noted that RUG tends to keep a very close rein on character designs in their productions. There is however a production of note where Christine is in fact blonde.
* Everyone remembers Joanne of ''[[Rent]]'' as black, because she was in the original Broadway cast. When the time came for the film, Fredi Walker, who felt herself too old to play a lawyer just out of law school, made one request - that Joanne remain black - and so Tracie Thom got the role.
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* In ''[[Der Ring Des Nibelungen|Das Rheingold]]'', at the point where Wagner's text merely reads "as if seized by a great thought," Wotan usually holds up a sword left over from Fafner's hoard and points it towards the castle, in accordance with the "sword" [[Leitmotif]] which makes its first appearance here. This practice was approved by Wagner for the inaugural Bayreuth production of 1876 (though ''Das Rheingold'' had its premiere seven years earlier).
* Bram Stoker never describes [[Dracula]] as wearing a cape. The image came from an early stage production, which included the cape to facilitate the special effects - the actor playing Dracula would close the cape around him when he was disappearing into a hidden trapdoor, making it look like he had vanished into thin air. It got carried over into the film, and since then, the cape has become associated not only with Dracula, but with vampires in general.
* ''[[Godspell]]'': A lot of productions follow certain guidelines: the cast is made of five women, three men, a Judas and a Jesus; Jesus wears a [[Superman]] t-shirt; whoever sings "Turn Back, O Man" [[Lady in Red|wears]] [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|red]]; and Judas has kind of a ringmaster look.
** The disciples [[No Name Given|didn't have names]] in the original stage play, so the actors went by their own names. As a result, the names of the first cast became the characters' official names in the play. For those curious: Sonia ("Turn Back, O Man"), Peggy ("By My Side"), Robin ("Day by Day"), Joanne ("Bless The Lord"), Jeffrey ("We Beseech Thee"), Gilmer ("Learn Your Lessons Well"), Herb ("Light of the World"), Lamar ("All Good Gifts").
*** Often, the actors playing these parts won't go by these names, but by ''their'' own names in a continuation of the tradition (with lines altered accordingly).
* ''[[The Magic Show]]'': The protagonist always goes by his actor's own name. On Broadway, this started with "Doug" for [[Doug Henning]], followed by "Jeff" for first replacement Jeffrey Mylett, and then "Joe" for second replacement Joe Abaldo.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Theater Tropes]]
[[Category:Original Cast Precedent]]
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