Musicals with mostly females

[Quinn T. McCord]

We can think of many musicals that are very much
male-oriented (Forum, Guys and Dolls, etc.) Can anyone come up
with a list of musicals that are female-oriented? The only
ones I've really come up with are Gypsy and Nine. Your help is
appreciated.

-Quinn

[Rafi Levavy]

The only other one I can think of off the top of my head is Song &
Dance.

Hope this helps.

Rafi

--
Rafi Levavy A.K.A Raf-Man, Number 8, Shorts
(Not Jacques) The Thermal Wonder, The Candy Man
"He wears shorts and a shirt and socks."
-S. Most, "The Raf Song" sho...@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu

[Mathemagician]

Well, before I can answer this, I'm going to need to know what you
mean by "female-oriented." Do you mean having mostly women in the
cast, or that the story revolves around a woman/women?

If you mean the latter, I would suggest _Evita._

--
Brian Evans | "Bad mood, bad mood...Sure I'm in a bad mood!
bev...@carina.unm.edu | I haven't had sex...*EVER!*" -- Virgin Mary

[Michael Nolan]

I guess it depends on what you mean by 'female-oriented'. Musicals which
have STRONG female roles, or with 'female' themes? (Whatever that might mean)

Some possibilities:

40 Carats
Applause
Funny Girl
The Secret Garden
---
Mike Nolan
no...@helios.unl.edu

[Rick Jones]

>> Can anyone come up
>>with a list of musicals that are female-oriented? The only
>>ones I've really come up with are Gypsy and Nine. Your help is
>>appreciated.

I guess it depends in part on what you mean by "female-oriented".
GYPSY, though it has three very good roles for women, actually has a
lot fewer female than male characters. LITTLE SHOP's biggest roles
(except for Audrey) are male, but there may actually be more women
than men in the cast.

The only other show I can think of that has both more women than men *and*
more central women than central men is SMILE... hardly a classic.

Such is the way of things... and the subject of a current research
project of mine. Alas, my work is only beginning... and I deal with
plays (musical and non-musical) being most frequently produced ib
university theatres: same phenomenon, different setting.

Rick Jones

[Diana Tenery-Fisher]

RJO...@cornell-iowa.edu (Rick Jones) writes:

>>> Can anyone come up
>>>with a list of musicals that are female-oriented? The only
>>>ones I've really come up with are Gypsy and Nine. Your help is
>>>appreciated.

>I guess it depends in part on what you mean by "female-oriented".
>GYPSY, though it has three very good roles for women, actually has a
>lot fewer female than male characters. LITTLE SHOP's biggest roles
>(except for Audrey) are male, but there may actually be more women
>than men in the cast.

From what I remember about Little Shop... the only women besides
Audrey are the 3 "background singers".

-diana

And actually, I just finished Into The Woods, where all of the parts
are pretty central and out of 16 parts, 10 are female. (at least
by my rough count this early in the morning)

>The only other show I can think of that has both more women than men *and*
>more central women than central men is SMILE... hardly a classic.

>Such is the way of things... and the subject of a current research
>project of mine. Alas, my work is only beginning... and I deal with
>plays (musical and non-musical) being most frequently produced ib
>university theatres: same phenomenon, different setting.

>Rick Jones
--
______________________________________________________________________________
'It is only with the heart that one can see
Diana Tenery-Fisher o/~ rightly. What is essential is invisible
ca...@netcom.com to the eye' - The Little Prince *143SKB*

[Rick Jones]

>>From what I remember about Little Shop... the only women besides
>>Audrey are the 3 "background singers".

There are also at least two "visitors" to the shop who are
specifically female... that makes a total of 6 women. For men, there
are the three central guys, the voice of the plant... and that's it
... I think... ;-)
There are also some derelict types who can be either male or female.

But that wasn't really my point, anyway. What I was trying to say was
that it's a predominately male show, even IF there are more roles for
women than for men... it demonstrates what a colleague calls "the male
gaze". So does _Gypsy_, in a way, though the major roles are
female...

Oh, I did think of another show: wonderful, though virtually unknown:
Sue Townsend's _Bazaar and Rummage_.

-- Rick

[C. K. Powell]

qt...@Virginia.EDU ("Quinn T. McCord") writes:

> > We can think of many musicals that are very much
> >male-oriented (Forum, Guys and Dolls, etc.) Can anyone come up
> >with a list of musicals that are female-oriented? The only
> >ones I've really come up with are Gypsy and Nine. Your help is
> >appreciated.

Chicago?

Chris

[Richard Sucgang]

Uhh...Dancing at Lughnasa? Into the Woods?
You can force Cabaret or Chorus Line to mostly women.
Heck, even Jesus Christ Superstar or Chess.

Actually, in my theatre group, this has always been the perennial
problem. Lots of women with great voices, not enough parts.

Oh, how about Sound of Music?

-rich
Richard Sucgang : Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology Columbia University
(suc...@cuhhca.hhmi.columbia.edu | rs...@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu)
"...Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, individually, collectively or otherwise."
-Colm Wilkinson, Highlights from Jekyll and Hyde

[Jessica Raine]

"Best Little Whorehouse In Texas"
"The King And I" (well, sort of)
"Quilters"
"The Boy Friend"
"Can-Can" (again, this is sort of female-oriented)

The musicals I have listed about are musicals which have plots
centering on the roles of women in society, rather than the roles of women
relating specifically to certain men. Could you maybe be a little clearer
on your definition of "female-oriented"? Great thread, BTW.

Jessica Raine | st92...@pip.cc.brandeis.edu
"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes."--the Bard

[Joanna Salgado]

In article <1993Mar21.2...@news.columbia.edu> rs...@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Richard Sucgang) writes:
>
>Uhh...Dancing at Lughnasa? Into the Woods?

Whoa! Woods? I consider the most memorable parts with the best lines
as the 2 Princes, the Baker, Jack, the Wolf and the Witch. How many
women? (Disclaimer: I've hated ITW ever since I did it in high school.
Probably because I played Snow White and deserved a better role than
to be the person who made deli runs. Not enough parts for lots of
female talent...)

>You can force Cabaret or Chorus Line to mostly women.

Except A Chorus line has "8 boys, 8 girls." If you count Zach, that
gives us a male majority. But in terms of songs, the women DO have
more of the awesome ones.

>Heck, even Jesus Christ Superstar or Chess.

Chess? NOT! Although Florence is the link of the show, I think that
The Russian/Anatoly and The American/Freddy (heck - even the Arbiter)
dominate her, and she isn't as much the focus as Anatoly is, anywhoo.

>
>Actually, in my theatre group, this has always been the perennial
>problem. Lots of women with great voices, not enough parts.

Me too. Do you know Tamar Kushnir from Barnard? (She played the Witch
in high school.)

>
>Oh, how about Sound of Music?

How about it? I like it.

Another female musical would be Nunsense.

--

___________________ I'm just a dream on a lonely night...___________________

Thisisasubliminalmessage:ReadFoolontheHillbyMattRuffAtlanticMonthlyPress1988

[George Lindholm]

I haven't seen anyone mention "Dreamgirls" yet.

George
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University Computing Services, UBC fax: (604) 822-5116
6356 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, B.C., Canada internet: lind...@ucs.ubc.ca
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[Jan Penovich]

Sweet Charity
Pajama Game

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[Daniel P. Faigin]

On 21 Mar 1993 18:15:01 GMT, no...@helios.unl.edu (Michael Nolan) said:

>> We can think of many musicals that are very much
>>male-oriented (Forum, Guys and Dolls, etc.) Can anyone come up
>>with a list of musicals that are female-oriented? The only
>>ones I've really come up with are Gypsy and Nine. Your help is
>>appreciated.

I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On The Road

Daniel
--
[W]:The Aerospace Corp. M1/055 * POB 92957 * LA, CA 90009-2957 * 310/336-8228
[Email]:fai...@aerospace.aero.org [Vmail]:310/336-5454 Box#13149
"And as they say, the rest is compost"

[Brad Spachman]

I am suprised to see no mention of:

Annie
Annie get your Gun

Brad Spachman
Northwestern University
b-spa...@nwu.edu

[Jennifer Kiernan]

MCKENZIE ROBERT NEIL (mck...@ecf.toronto.edu) wrote:
: Princess Ida (by Gilbert & Sullivan) is an operetta about a "females only"
: place. It has the Gilbert & Sullivan trademark troop of women AND troop of
: men, but the story revolves around this all-female hangout (school, college,
: something like that).

True... although the libretto has so much sexism in it that it kinda lessens
the effect.

My theatre company of choice (The Lamplighters, San Francisco, CA) performed
IDA a few years ago, and it was edited not only for length (the show is
much too long) but for sexism as well. The version we eventually performed
did, I think, maintain the integrity of the writing without subjecting the
audience to anything they would want to hiss at.

Jen

P.S. BTW, the all-female hangout is a women's university - supposedly in the
Medieval Era, no less.

[Stefan William Sittig]

Yes, I can think of quite a few...they tend to be my favorite.

SWEET CHARITY - one of my all-time favorite shows...mostly women..one male lead, then chorus parts mostly for men. .

CHICAGO- Again a mainly female cast, with one or two major male roles. Good forhigh school and college productions as well.

STARTING HERE, STARTING NOW- A musical revue, although there are only 3 performers singing the Maltby and Shire tunes, about 85-90% of the songs are written
specifically for women.

SONG AND DANCE- A one-woman extravaganza!

DREAMGIRLS-Also mostly female, with one strong female lead.

INTO THE WOODS-Yes! I would consider this musical very female-oriented. IMHO the best roles are written for women. The witch, the baker's wife and cinderella, pretty much run the whole show. Little Red Riding Hood is interesting to
play as well.

Well, I guess those are it for the ones I consider MOSTLY female-oriented.
There are others that can be debated. I wouldn't necessarily call GUYS and DOLLS a male-oriented musical, just because it's about gangsters...it is important
to remember the importance of Adelaide's and Sarah Brown's character. They are
both strong women who stand up for themselves and what they believe in. VERY
female-oriented if you ask me....especially for when it was written. "Marry TheMan Today" is a hymn to female dominance.

Love,
Stefan
"I had everything but beauty, I had power. And a daughter like a flower, in a
tower. But then I went into the woods to get my beauty, now I'm ordinary,
lost my power and my flower."
INTO THE WOODS

[Bart Sears]

If you want to do a revue type show, take a look at "A ... My Name is Alice".
This is a wonderful musical revue with 5 female roles (and no male roles).

Bart

[Linda Snow]

Mame
Wildcat

[Danielle Hood u]

I think that _The Boyfriend_ could fit into this category, no?
--
Dani Hood || I'm not voting
Wilfrid Laurier University || until I get
Ontario, Canada || my stuff!!
"It's not tipping I believe in, it's OVERtipping."

[sup...@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu]

Don't forget about Nunsense, and although it's intended for a younger
cast, there's also Annie. Chicago also has a lot of large roles for
women.

-Mary

[Peter F Davis]

How about "Nine?" I think it's 1 man, 1 boy, and 21 women.

[C. K. Powell]

The production of _Follies_ we saw in London was mostly
female.

Chris

[Skimble]

I haven't been following this string, so I'm not sure it it's been mentioned,
but _In Trousers_ contains 1 male and at least 3 females. (_In Trousers_
is the first part in the Marvin Trilogy (Falsettos).)

jason

[Pamela J. Bernhardt]

Has anyone said Mame? or Hello Dolly?

Pam

[Lightman]

Detroit?

.save

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[arn...@cubldr.colorado.edu]

In article <QfhlxHi00...@andrew.cmu.edu>, "Pamela J. Bernhardt" <pb...@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
> Has anyone said Mame? or Hello Dolly?
>

Or BELLS ARE RINGING? The focus of the story is Susanswerphone -- an
answering service office. Those of you under 30 probably have no idea what I'm
talking about. This is a wonderful musical that has become anachronistic
because of telephone technology and OTB (Off-Track Betting).

Bill