Original Cast Precedent: Difference between revisions

** 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''!"

** There also seems to have been a shift based on the Revival's take on her. Angela Lansbury made her rather grandmotherly, but Patti Lupone's version is younger and more in the way of a [[Perky Goth]], a presentation which also applies to the film version (although most Tim Burton characters have [[Looks Like Cesare]] going on anyway).

* 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]], and Richard Harris played the role in the movie and later on stage.

* 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.

* Almost every play of ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' seems to include an Alice who is blonde and blue-eyed, despite the fact that the real-life Alice Liddell was dark-haired. (The original book's illustrations depicted the character as blonde.)

** 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.

* All of this aside, there's also the matter of voices (inflections, center of tone, and general voice qualities). For example, although Ko-Ko in ''[[The Mikado]]'' is generally kind (and debatedly ''[[The Woobie]]'') due to the casting of a certain John Reed, almost every portrayal you see has the same character voice. Which wrecks havok on those preparing to audition for the part, who have to choose whether to read the part in their own voice or the precedented one. Similarly, actors have imitated Victor Moore's character voice as Throttlebottom in ''[[Of Thee I Sing]]'' and Moonface in ''[[Anything Goes]]''.

* [[Hairspray]] had Divine playing Tracy's mom Edna, and the stage shows and later movie continue the man-as-woman tradition.

** Another Les Miserables example is that Cosette, another blonde in the book, always is given a brown wig, regardless of the hair colour of the actress. Katie Hall is a notable aversion. She played Cosette in the 25th Anniversary Concert. However, she too wore a dark wig when she played the role at the Queen's Theatre.

** Rebecca Caine, who created the role of Cosette in 1985, has said that only the original cast will ever know just how much they contributed to the show. The harmonies between Eponine and Marius were created during rehearsals by Frances Ruffelle and Michael Ball, the vocal scale in "I Dreamed a Dream" was thought up by Patti LuPone, and the high grace notes in Cosette's vocals were due to Rebecca - and that's just for starters. This is probably true not just for ''Les Mis'', but for most other theater productions of all kinds.