History Main / OriginalCastPrecedent

* ''Theatre/PeterPan'':

** In TheMusical at least, the role of Eliza, the maid, is typically doubled with that of Tiger Lily.

* Though the casting calls of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' simply say that every actor (with the exception of the one playing King George III) should be non-white, most productions match up exactly with the ethnicities of the original Broadway cast.

** Cosette, a brunette in the book, always is given a brown wig, regardless of the hair colour of the actress. Katie Hall is a notable aversion. She played Cosette in the 25th Anniversary Concert. However, she too wore a dark wig when she played the role at the Queen's Theatre. Cosette was also blond in the 2012 movie, when she was played by Creator/AmandaSeyfried.

** The Usherette who sings "Science Fiction Double Feature" is often played by the actress who portrays Magenta or Colombia.

** The Teen Angel and Johnny Casino are usually played by the same actor, as Alan Paul played both in the original Broadway production . Exceptions to the rule include Johnny Casino being written out of some stagings, so that the actor for Vince Fontaine will instead double the part for the Teen Angel.

** Sandy herself is near-always played by a blonde actress, or the actress will be given a blonde wig. This in part was due to the popularity of Olivia Newton John's portrayal in the film adapation, although the real-life inspiration for Sandy's character was also a blonde. Although in both the '72 and 2007 Broadway productions, the initial actresses for Sandy were allowed to keep their dark hair.

* In ''Theatre/AvenueQ'', more than just a few people assume that Gary Coleman is always played by a black woman. Most Youtube clips with songs from Avenue Q are from the broadway production with Natalie Venetia Belcon playing Coleman, so it made a few people confused whenever they found clips from the London production featuring Giles Terera.

** Christine is almost always a brunette. It should be noted that RUG tends to keep a very close rein on character designs in their productions. (In 2014 Emmi Christensson became the first Christine to have a blonde wig in the West End. All other blonde Christines in ALW's Phantom have been in non-replica productions.)

** Cosette, a brunette in the book, always is given a brown wig, regardless of the hair colour of the actress. Katie Hall is a notable aversion. She played Cosette in the 25th Anniversary Concert. However, she too wore a dark wig when she played the role at the Queen's Theatre.

** The majority of Eponines have had dark hair, despite the fact that [[Literature/LesMiserables the novel]] describes her as a blonde[[note]]Hugo himself was not very consistent on Eponine's hair color, describing her first as having "chestnut" colored hair before later referring to her as blonde[[/note]]. This is probably set by original Eponine, Frances Ruffelle and reinforced by notable 10th Anniversary Concert Cast Eponine, Lea Salonga, and 25th Anniversary, Samantha Barks. 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.

* Though the casting calls of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' simply say that every actor should be non-white, most productions match up exactly with the ethnicities of the original Broadway cast.

This may not technically be true--there may indeed be as many non-black actors cast in the role as black ones--the point is that the ''impression'' is there. Most people who know the show, or at least the Broadway production with Ben Vereen and film with Carl Anderson, when they think of the character, think of him as black. This phenomenon is also why most people who think of the musical ''Rent'' will imagine Mark with short blond hair and glasses. This can also refer to casting conventions, such as how certain shows are always subject to (sometimes ridiculous) DawsonCasting whereas others are less so.

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

** Sky Masterson is the traditional romantic lead while Nathan Detroit is the more comic role. Though Nathan Detroit was originally played by the tone-deaf Sam Levene, thanks to FrankSinatra's portrayal in the movie, Nathan Detroit is often played by the better singer.

* In most production of ''Theatre/WestSideStory'', the Jets tend to wear blue and yellow clothing while the Sharks tend to wear red and purple.

* ''{{Grease}}'':

* All of this aside, there's also the matter of voices (inflections, center of tone, and general voice qualities). For example, although Ko-Ko in ''TheMikado'' is generally kind (and debatedly ''TheWoobie'') due to the casting of a certain John Reed, almost every portrayal you see has the same character voice. Which wrecks havok on those preparing to audition for the part, who have to choose whether to read the part in their own voice or the precedented one. Similarly, actors have imitated Victor Moore's character voice as Throttlebottom in ''Theatre/OfTheeISing'' and Moonface in ''Theatre/AnythingGoes''.

* Inverted with ''Theatre/{{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). The only stereotype of this role is that it's hardly ever played by a white male.

* In ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'', Mrs. Lovett is almost always cast a little on the plump side or blowsy, like Creator/AngelaLansbury as opposed to the equally (perhaps ''more'') likely possibility of her being thin and bony. Christine Baranski is one of the few skinny Mrs. Lovetts.

* The role of PeterPan has almost always been [[CrosscastRole played by a woman]], as most men post-puberty would be unable to pull off the acrobatic choreography, while still having a childlike voice and frame.
** Similarly, the children's father and Captain Hook are generally played by the same person. (Though Barrie originally wanted ''Mrs.'' Darling to be the actress to play Captain Hook... make of that what you will.) Also, in TheMusical at least, the role of Eliza, the maid, is typically doubled with that of Tiger Lily.

* Almost every play of ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' seems to include an Alice who is blonde and blue-eyed, despite the fact that the real-life Alice Liddell was dark-haired. (The original book's illustrations depicted the character as blonde.)

* The voice of the ManEatingPlant in ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'' is usually that of a black singer, though his (real) face is unseen -- or rather, is seen only as that of a Skid Row bum, which he doubles as by precedent.

* ''Theatre/GuysAndDolls''--Sky Masterson is the traditional romantic lead while Nathan Detroit is the more comic role. Though Nathan Detroit was originally played by the tone-deaf Sam Levene, thanks to FrankSinatra's portrayal in the movie, Nathan Detroit is often played by the better singer.

* In ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' Christine is almost always a brunette. It should be noted that RUG tends to keep a very close rein on character designs in their productions. There ''is'' however a production of note where Christine is blonde.
** In 2014 Emmi Christensson became the first Christine to have a blonde wig in the West End. All other blonde Christines in ALW's Phantom have been in non-replica productions.

* Everyone remembers Joanne of ''{{Rent}}'' as black, because she was in the original Broadway cast. When the time came for the film, Fredi Walker, who felt herself too old to play a lawyer just out of law school, made one request - that Joanne remain black - and so Tracie Thoms got the role.
** 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 the same and, of course, the before-mentioned blond, bespectacled Mark (especially strange given that he's Jewish). This was probably exacerbated by the film version casting the majority of the original cast.

*** And averted in the Broadway production when they did some StuntCasting with Joey Fatone of *Music/{{NSYNC}} as Mark- he kept his natural black hair.

* ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'' had Divine playing Tracy's mom Edna, and the stage shows and later movie continue the man-as-woman tradition.

* In ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', the majority of Eponines have had dark hair, despite the fact that [[Literature/LesMiserables the novel]] describes her as a blonde[[note]]Although Hugo himself was not very consistent on Eponine's hair color, having described her as having "chestnut" colored hair initially before later referring to her as blonde[[/note]]. This is probably set by original Eponine, Frances Ruffelle and reinforced by notable 10th Anniversary Concert Cast Eponine, Lea Salonga, and 25th Anniversary, Samantha Barks. 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.
** Another Les Miserables example is that Cosette, a brunette in the book, always is given a brown wig, regardless of the hair colour of the actress. Katie Hall is a notable aversion. She played Cosette in the 25th Anniversary Concert. However, she too wore a dark wig when she played the role at the Queen's Theatre.

* In productions of the ''[[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow The Rocky Horror Show]]'', Eddie and Dr Scott are frequently played by the same actor. The [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow film]], which casts two different actors in the roles, is a rare aversion of this. Likewise, the Usherette who sings "Science Fiction Double Feature" is often played by the actress who portrays Magenta or Colombia.

* The Teen Angel and Johnny Casino in ''{{Grease}}'' are usually played by the same actor, as Alan Paul played both in the original Broadway production . Exceptions to the rule include Johnny Casino being written out of some stagings, so that the actor for Vince Fontaine will instead double the part for the Teen Angel.

* Creator/HankAzaria originated the role of Lancelot in ''Theatre/{{Spamalot}}''. Ever since then, despite the fact that Lancelot is described as "big and strong and hot" and was originally played on film by the very tall and handsome Creator/JohnCleese, Lancelot's actor tends to be extremely small compared to his fellow knights. This could be attributed to the fact that Lancelot's actor also has to play three extremely hammy and heavily-accented side characters, and being able to do that is more important than matching Lancelot's physical description, but doesn't quite explain why the actor must always be so shrimpy.

** The only notable aversion to this in ''Rent'' is Angel. the role was originated by Wilson Jermaine Heredia, who's Dominican; later Angels have included Jose Llana (Filipino) and Telly Leung (Chinese), and the original understudy, Darius De Haas, is black.

* In ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'', the title character's OneLiner when he triumphantly holds out his razor is, according to the script: "My right arm is complete again!" So why is it usually performed and remembered as, "At last my arm is complete again"? Len Cariou of the original Broadway cast was left-handed.

* 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). The only stereotype of this role is that it's hardly ever played by a white male.

* In ''Theatre/AvenueQ', more than just a few people assume that Gary Coleman is always played by a black woman. Most Youtube clips with songs from Avenue Q are from the broadway production with Natalie Venetia Belcon playing Coleman, so it made a few people confused whenever they found clips from the London production featuring Giles Terera.

* Hank Azaria originated the role of Lancelot in ''{{Theatre/Spamalot}}''. Ever since then, despite the fact that Lancelot is described as "big and strong and hot" and was originally played on film by the very tall and handsome John Cleese, Lancelot's actor tends to be extremely small compared to his fellow knights. This could be attributed to the fact that Lancelot's actor also has to play three extremely hammy and heavily-accented side characters, and being able to do that is more important than matching Lancelot's physical description, but doesn't quite explain why the actor must always be so shrimpy.
* In ''Musical/AvenueQ', more than just a few people assume that Gary Coleman is always played by a black woman. Most Youtube clips with songs from Avenue Q are from the broadway production with Natalie Venetia Belcon playing Coleman, so it made a few people confused whenever they found clips from the London production featuring Giles Terera.

* ''TheWiz'' (an adaptation of ''Literature/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.

* 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.

** 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 blond, bespectacled Mark (especially strange given that he's Jewish). This was probably exacerbated by the film version casting the majority of the original cast.

* Higgins' songs in ''MyFairLady'' were meant to be sung, not spoken, but many portrayers follow the precedent of original non-singer Rex Harrison.

** And for ''Alice In Wonderland'' in general, the main time when you ''do'' see a dark-haired Alice is when the story's been [[{{Grimmification}} Grimmified]]. (Though this isn't done in ''every'' dark retelling. Just a lot of them.) Perhaps this is because it makes her look more like a goth.

* In ''IntoTheWoods'', the actor who plays Cinderella's Prince doubles as the Wolf, the {{Narrator}} as the Mysterious Man, and Cinderella's Mother as Granny and the Giant. This is not a script-based necessity, merely a tradition established by the original Broadway production.

* ''GuysAndDolls''--Sky Masterson is the traditional romantic lead while Nathan Detroit is the more comic role. Though Nathan Detroit was originally played by the tone-deaf Sam Levene, thanks to FrankSinatra's portrayal in the movie, Nathan Detroit is often played by the better singer.

* All of this aside, there's also the matter of voices (inflections, center of tone, and general voice qualities). For example, although Ko-Ko in ''TheMikado'' is generally kind (and debatedly ''TheWoobie'') due to the casting of a certain John Reed, almost every portrayal you see has the same character voice. Which wrecks havok on those preparing to audition for the part, who have to choose whether to read the part in their own voice or the precedented one. Similarly, actors have imitated Victor Moore's character voice as Throttlebottom in ''OfTheeISing'' and Moonface in ''Theatre/AnythingGoes''.