Theatre - Acting like a boy when you're a girl

[Slipper]

I know - odd question. My daughter is auditioning for Children's Theatre soon. They always have plenty of girls try out but very few boys so she centered her audition monologue and song around boys (Peter Pan and Huckleberry Finn specifically).

 

Any suggestions on how to walk, talk or whatever like a boy? I find this amusing but she would seriously like to act like a boy for the audition to make it a bit more memorable.

[KungFuPanda]

My daughter was once one of the little Von Trapp boys :-). The younger they are, the less they have to try. Hiding their hair is half the battle.

[Tammi K]

Mary Martin and Sandy Duncan both played Peter Pan. She's in good company! Best of luck to her....Oops, I meant "Brealk a Leg!"

[Slipper]

Thanks both of you. :)

 

The hair shouldn't be a problem. She typically wears it in a shoulder-length bob style. She asked if she could make it a VERY short bob and she had it cut last week. It looks absolutely adorable on her in my opinion (she also does cheerleading and it's too short now for ribbons, bows, etc).

 

This is for my 11 yo dd. She's very small for her age and typically doesn't get parts for 'older' characters. I have my fingers crossed for her. :)

[Miss Peregrine]

My son is currently in a production of Peter Pan and a girl is one of the Lost Boys. She auditioned for Wendy. :) I think it is a matter of the director looking outside the box.

[GailV]

Two tips dd was told when she played Viola in Twelfth Night -- a girl who was pretending to be a boy, so not quite so accurately boy-like:

 

- Boys do not fidget with their clothing. I assume the same is true for hair.

 

- They tend to walk "wider" instead of the more narrow, runway-style walking of girls. They take up more room.

 

She's sort of blank on remembering anything else. That was about 3 years ago. She wouldn't worry too much about the voice/vocal placement at your dd's age -- if you do it wrong it can sound really silly.

[redsquirrel]

My son is very much in demand as a middle schooler who likes to be in plays. Many of the 'boys' roles are filled by girls. Any director who works with kids and teens is used to dealing with this. In Oklahoma, my son was one of three 'boys'. He was the only boy who was an actual boy. In Oliver he was one of a handful of boys who worked for Fagin. The rest were girls. One of the girls has just played Peter Pan in her school play. The other had been Willy Wonka.

 

FWIW, the singing parts often make it easier for a girl to land the part than a boy.

 

Once they get older it changes a bit. Older teen boys seem more comfortable acting and dancing than younger. However, I did see a couple 'farmers and cowmen' with bouncy ponytails. :lol: