History Main / CrossCastRole

* Sophie of ''{{Leverage}}'' plays Walter Loman in ''Death of a Salesman''; she's so GiftedlyBad that Nate doesn't realize that she's playing him as a man, leading to a particularly cringeworthy ComplimentBackfire.

* Ed Asner voices Granny Goodness, one of the DarkSeid's henchwomen in ''SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' and in upcoming ''[[SupermanBatmanApocalypse Superman/Batman: Apocalypse]]''

* Octavian of Richard Strauss' ''Der Rosenkavalier'' is a young man, who at one point disguises himself as a woman; his part is played by female singers.

* In an episode of {{KingoftheHill}} Peggy mentioned that she played Danny Zuko in the high school production of {{Grease}}.

[[AC:{{WesternAnimation}}]]

* An in-universe example in [[{{K-On}} K-On!]], when the main characters' class puts on a production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' for their school festival. As it's an all-girls school, the male parts are played by girls.

** Subverted by Shakespeare's contemporary Ben Jonson's play ''Epicoene''- the title character is played by a boy, but presented as a woman for the whole play- until the characters [[DroppedABridgetOnHim have the Bridget dropped on them]].

* It is very common in some plays for the title character in {{TheNutcracker}} to be played by a woman.

** [[spoiler:Dolores Umbridge]] in the sequel.
*** [[spoiler: Dean]] is one also in the sequel. Played by the person who played [[spoiler: Bellatrix]].
* The Witch in ''{{Hansel and Gretel}}'' is often played by a tenor in drag, mainly for the laughs. It's originally a mezzo-soprano role. Hansel is a typical trouser role.

* Stage productions of ''{{Chicago}}'' [[OriginalCastPrecedent traditionally cast]] a man in the role of the reporter Mary Sunshine (even if the film had Christine Baranski in the part).
* The Witch in ''{{Hansel and Gretel}}'' is often played by a tenor in drag, mainly for the laughs. It's originally a mezzo-soprano role.

# Community and school theater companies frequently have more women than men. Many plays (especially older ones) have more male than female roles. Cross-casting is one possible solution, though admittedly [[GenderFlip not the only one]]. Similarly, sketch comedy groups are frequently all male.

* The Witch in {{Hansel and Gretel}} is often played by a tenor in drag, mainly for the laughs. Originally a mezzo-soprano role.

# Early opera also has a number of roles written for castrati[[hottip:*:That's men who deliberately got...uh...snipped...so their voices wouldn't change]]. While they were not originally intended to fall under this trope, many modern productions of these operas will by necessity.

** There's also Betty, a [[{{HystericalWoman}} high-strung]], [[{{GoodAdulteryBadAdultery}} cuckolded]], [[{{EvilMatriarch}} lady of the house]], who's deliberately played like an over-the-top man in drag a la {{Monty Python}} to show the absurdity of [[{{VictorianBritain}} Victorian gender roles]]. In the second act she's played straight by a woman and pretty much realized shed been forced to play a caricature most of her life.