Did you see where they are performing “1776” musical about founding fathers in drag by an all female cast from our area at the Tower Theatre.
Wonder if we (the men) could perform 17 versions of Rosie O’Donnell’s multiple personality and make it a musical.
It is just strange that they couldn’t have hired half of the cast as men just to show some cooperation amongst sexes. A real gender bender in my view!
Founding fathers would roll over in their graves!
Jan Tuckerman of sunriver should be ashamed!
This article appears in Apr 5-11, 2012.
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I will say my casting preference is always in favor of whatever gender the character is supposed to be, but if this is how they wanted to produce it, what’s the harm? (No one will be in drag, by the way; it’s a concert, not a fully staged and costumed play.)
As far as cooperation amongst the sexes – why? Why must we always do that? Especially when one considers the long and vast history of scripts that favor the male population, even to this present day. Give the women a shot. I have no problem with all-female colleges, or all-male golf clubs, or all male military colleges, or bridal showers being just for the women, and on and on and on.
Why should anyone be “ashamed” of this production? Theater by its very nature is discriminatory: Only 25 people could be in this production; all the rest were discriminated against. So in this case, the producers chose to make it all women.
If that has you angry, bitter, and otherwise twisted into an emotional knot, you’ve got bigger problems in your spirit than just this.
Mr. Buchanan:
As originally written, the musical 1776 contains roles for 23 males and 2 females. The music is challenging. The choral pieces are often harmonically complex. Although there is dialogue, it is the music that makes the piece memorable.
When is the last time you saw this musical produced onstage?
If your answer is “Never”, or “Once, done by my high school in 1978”, then you should be able to draw a reasonable conclusion as to WHY an all-female concert version has been made available by the composer/authors of the piece. They want to see and hear their work performed live.
Finding 25 men who are talented singer/actors, willing to volunteer their time for more than 4 months (performers are not being paid; this is a fundraiser for The Tower Theatre Foundation) in ANY community is a challenge; in Central Oregon I don’t believe it could have been done. Ask any choral or musical director: for whatever reason, it is far easier to fill the soprano/alto section than the tenor/bass section with skilled performers.
Any woman who has committed her time and talent to this production is doing so as an act of love and community spirit; she deserves to be applauded, not pilloried. Thank you, Jan Tuckerman, for sharing your talents with those of us who will attend and support the production.
To add to what Brian has said, 1776 is a fantastic musical with many great roles that females rarely get a chance to perform. Even if they had decided to have a “gender blind” audition, they still probably would have ended up with an all-female cast – have you seen the talented ladies in this show?! It’s going to be incredible!
Proud and honored to be performing alongside Jan and all of the talented women in this production! Thrilled in fact. Nobody had to drag me into it.
Mr. Buchanan, I’m not sure how Rosie O’Donnell’s personality fits in to your opinion on play. If you don’t like it, fine, but attacking O’Donnell is kind of pointless and juvenile. And, hey, no one is stopping you from producing a musical about her. If you really “Wonder if we (the men) could perform 17 versions of Rosie O'Donnell's multiple personality and make it a musical.”, then make it happen and find out. Or, better yet, produce your own musical about the founding fathers. Whatever you do, try to quit bawling about it. You’re not a victim of this production.