History Main / OriginalCastPrecedent

* In ''SweeneyTodd'', Mrs. Lovett is almost always cast a little on the plump side or blowsy, like Angela Lansbury as opposed to the equally (perhaps ''more'') likely possibility of her being thin and bony. Christine Baranski is the only skinny Mrs. Lovett ThisTroper has ever heard of.

* ''{{Guys and Dolls}}''--Sky Masterson is the traditional romantic lead while Nathan Detroit is the more comic role, but thanks to FrankSinatra's portrayal in the movie, Nathan Detroit is often played by the better singer.

* This is probably where the utterly ridiculous tradition of [[PlayingHamlet casting a middle-aged man as Hamlet]] came from: Richard Burbage, who originated most of the titular roles in Shakespeare's tragedies, was in his late thirties or forties when he originated this role.
** This is mostly justified by the equally ridiculous throwaway line in the uncut text about Hamlet being thirty, but even so, some of the actors who have played him have been most definitely ''not'' thirty (cough Laurence Oliver cough).
** It long ago reached the point where "I played Hamlet!" is fictional shorthand for "I've done more theater shows than you can ''count''!"

* ''TheWiz'' (an adaptation of ''TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'') was originally staged with an all-black cast, and the movie version and many subsequent productions have followed suit. However, perhaps since race is not an in-story issue, it's not uncommon to see colorblind stagings, especially on the amateur level.

* In ''[[{{Theatre/ptitlenjisnv3p}} Les Misérables]]'', the majority of Eponines have had dark hair, despite the fact that [[Main/LesMiserables the novel]] describes her as a blonde. This is probably set by original Eponine, Frances Ruffelle and reinforced by notable 10th Anniversary Concert Cast Eponine, Lea Salonga. In fact, Megan Lawrence, a blonde Eponine on Broadway, commented once to an interviewer that she never thought she'd get to play Eponine ''because'' she was a blonde.

* NathanLane [[TropeCodifier codified]] the performance of [[TheProducers Max Bialystock]], so much so that in a brief [[BreakingTheFourthWall Fourth Wall-breaking moment]] in "Betrayed," other actors playing the role will make jokes about how they're not Nathan Lane.

** It also makes thematic sense, especially between the Prince and Wolf and the Narrator and Mysterious Man.

* Utterson in ''JekyllAndHyde'' tends to be played by a black actor, despite no particular reason for this.

*** Indeed, it's a tradition for any big budget version of ''Camelot'' to have Arthur played by a respectable movie star with little or no singing experience (Burton, Harris, Laurence Harvey, Gabriel Byrne, Michael York) or someone who made their theatre career singing that way (Jeremy Irons.)
** Robert Goulet played Arthur in a touring production ca. 1998-1999; he originated the role of Lancelot on Broadway back in 1960.

** Robert Goulet played Arthur in a touring production ca. 1998-1999.

* Revivals of ''The Cradle Will Rock'' often do without costumes, scenery or orchestra; the original production did this out of necessity when the actors were locked out of the theatre it was supposed to open in.

* Zero Mostel had a huge influence on future portrayals of the characters he played. Most notably Tevye from ''Fiddler on the Roof''--a dirt poor Russian Jew shouldn't logically be a very fat man.
* ''Guys and Dolls''--Sky Masterson is the traditional romantic lead while Nathan Detroit is the more comic role, but thanks to Sinatra's portrayal in the movie, Nathan Detroit is often played by the better singer.

* The voice of the ManEatingPlant in ''LittleShopOfHorrors'' is usually that of a black singer, though his (real) face [[strike:is unseen]] appears as that of a Skid Row bum, also by precedent.

* The voice of the ManEatingPlant in ''LittleShopOfHorrors'' is usually that of a black singer, though his (real) face [[strike:is unseen]] appears as that of a Skid Row bum.

* Inverted with {{Pippin}} The Leading Player was originally played on Broadway by Ben Vereen. However, there really is no typical image of the Leading Player, and 'he' is as often a 'she' as not, and of all different ethnicities, body types, and ages (as long as he/she is older than Pippin). Pretty much the only stereotype of this role is that it's hardly ever played by a white male.

*** Indeed, it's a tradition for any big budget version of ''Camelot'' to have Arthur played by a respectable movie star with little or no singing experience: Burton, Harris, Laurence Harvey, Gabriel Byrne, Michael York, and Jeremy Irons.

* Inverted with {{''Pippin''.}} The Leading Player was originally played on Broadway by Ben Vereen. However, there really is no typical image of the Leading Player, and 'he' is as often a 'she' as not, and of all different ethnicities, body types, and ages (as long as he/she is older than Pippin). Pretty much the only stereotype of this role is that it's hardly ever played by a white male.

* Inverted with ''Pippin''. The Leading Player was originally played on Broadway by Ben Vereen. However, there really is no typical image of the Leading Player, and 'he' is as often a 'she' as not, and of all different ethnicities, body types, and ages (as long as he/she is older than Pippin). Pretty much the only stereotype of this role is that it's hardly ever played by a white male.

* The voice of the ManEatingPlant in ''LittleShopOfHorrors'' is usually that of a black singer, though his (real) face is unseen.

* In ''LesMiserables'', the majority of Eponines have had dark hair, despite the fact that the novel describes her as a blonde. This is probably set by original Eponine, Frances Ruffelle and reinforced by notable 10th Anniversary Concert Cast Eponine, Lea Salonga. In fact, Megan Lawrence, a blonde Eponine on Broadway, commented once to an interviewer that she never thought she'd get to play Eponine ''because'' she was a blonde.
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* Almost every play of ''Alice In Wonderland'' seems to include an Alice who is blonde and blue-eyed, despite the fact that in the original book, Alice was a brunette.
** Not quite. The book doesn't actually mention her hair colour in the text. The real-life Alice Liddel was dark haired, but the original illustrations depicted the character as blonde.

**In fact, most of the characters in ''{{Rent}}'' appear to be closely associated with the original performers. Roger tends to be a blonde, Maureen almost always appears with curly brown hair, the ethnicities of all characters tend to stay pretty much the same and, of course, the before-mentioned blonde haired bespectacled Mark. This was probably exacerbated by the film version casting the majority of the original cast.