A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS>..

Hey there people, Just wanted to asked you your opinion about something some friends and i have debated recently. In JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, can the role of Judas be played by a woman?! Does that "ruin" the story, or can it be an asset?! I'm interested to know how others feel about this.. Personally, i'm all for the idea.. I don't mean to say that i'd go and cast a girl in the role JUST FOR THE SAKE of it. But i believe it can be done just as passionately and at the same time, add another dimension to the Jesus / Mary M / Judas love/hate triangle thing.. it might even be more accessible if it's played well by a woman. At the same time i can completely understand people would disapprove or have trouble being comfortable. Possibly too "taboo" for it's own good, or "changing things for the sake of it". I'm IN LOOOOOVE with the 1992 Australian Cast Highlights Album @ the moment. Jon Stevens and John Farnham..OMG!! *drools* SO SO GOOD!! (go australia!! haha) But yeh, wanted to see if anybody was passionate about the idea either way.. Hope to hear from you toodles

I would liken it to having a man play "Cosette" in Les Miserables... It's an interesting idea... but JCS is at best a polarising piece of theatre... and very difficult to stage without alienating some people. As for the Jesus/Judas/Mary M triangle... I've always seen it this way *ducks for cover*: Judas falls in love with Jesus... and part of the motivation behind his anger and betrayal is that it's an impossible, unrequited love. Having a female Judas would perhaps destroy the tension.

Hey turtle, Thanks 4 your post..i totally get what you mean! I suppose you run the risk of"sexualising" the relationship between Judas and Jesus if you have a woman play Judas. Even if you were to play with with NO sort of aluding to sexual tension and stuff, people will see a man & a woman, another woman enters the equation.. It's a natural enough place to go in youre head. I agree that Judas loves Jesus too..(not in a sexual way) but he feels even MORE underminded by Mary M's influence and effect on Jesus. Jealous that he isn't the "right hand man" he once was, etc etc.. So i agree with all that stuff too Just interested to know what people think Thanks for taking the time :)

Hate to disagree with turtle, but, why not?! First of all, are you talking about playing Judas AS a woman or BY a woman? (yes they are two totally separate things) If you are talking playing Judas BY a woman, but still as a man, then definitely why not. JCS is a classic of the Musical repertoire, and it is somewhat unlikely that it is going to be ANYONE'S only exposure to the piece... so doing it the same way over and over again can (and does) get boring. Will the change tell us any more about Judas as a character? Yes Will the change open new ways of seeing the relationships within the piece? Yes Will it sexualise the relationship between the two leads? possibly. possibly not. If you decide to play Judas AS a woman then the above questions still apply, its just that you better make bloody well sure you can justify your approach. In fact that is the secret to doing anything like changing gender of characters... JUSTIFICATION If you can fake good justification you have it made As soon as you choose to do a production of a classic (modern or not) then your production ceases to be an entity unto itself and becomes part of a larger discourse within the greater performance history of the piece, we owe it to the work and to the audience to make sure sure that what we add to this discourse is more than just "ditto".

Grant... Its funny 'cos it's true! :-)