# Amateur Theater Lovers: Roles You'd Like to Play **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2013, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917 "2013-10-22T10:15:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/1 "2013-10-22T10:15:47Z")
I’ve played in amateur theatre for years. But we deal with what’s given us. If we had our druthers, what would we like to play? Me: Zach, in “A Chorus Line.” John/Judas in “Godspell.” Corny Collins in “Hairspray.” How about you? ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/2 "2013-10-22T10:30:23Z")
**Lennie** in _Of Mice and Men_ **Ben Franklin** in _1776_ **Falstaff** in _Henry IV_ (both parts) and _The Merry Wives of Windsor_ **Sir Toby Belch** in _Twelfth Night_ ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/3 "2013-10-22T14:22:35Z")
On my wish list: **Atticus Finch** , _To Kill A Mockingbird_ (I actually was one of the final two up for that part some years back, but lost out on the casting. Rats!) **Lloyd Dallas** , _Noises Off_ (or pretty much any role in that show) Either **Henry Drummond** or **Matthew Harrison Brady** , _Inherit the Wind_ My wife says I would be great as **Ben Franklin** or one of the other Founding Fathers in _1776_, but I dunno … I do have the hairline for Franklin, anyway. I’m sure there are others, but those have been on my list for a long time. We have a local theatre group that does classic plays outdoors every summer on the grounds of a historic mansion (usually Shakespeare every other year, alternating with something like "_Cat On A Hot Tin Roof_ or _The Grapes of Wrath_ or _The Crucible_) … I think _Inherit the Wind_ would be perfect for that, but I have no influence on the selection committee. 🙂 And I have already been lucky enough to play roles like **George Bailey** (_It’s A Wonderful Life_), **Ben Marco** (_The Manchurian Candidate_), \*\*Sidney Bruhl \*\*- twice! (_Deathtrap_), the **Stage Manager** (_Our Town_), and **Banquo** (the Scottish play). Not to mention **Uncle Jocko** (_Gypsy_). So it’s been a pretty good run so far. Our local community theatre group has _Spamalot_ and _God of Carnage_ coming up next spring, along with another run of _To Kill A Mockingbird_, so … we’ll see. Fingers crossed. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/4 "2013-10-22T14:57:11Z")
Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, in **The Music Man**. My high school put on that show two years after I went to college, darn it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/5 "2013-10-22T15:00:15Z")
Harvey, in the play of the same name. Godot, in _Waiting For Godot_ ---
**Author:** ![Barrett\_Bonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@Barrett\_Bonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrett_Bonden)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/6 "2013-10-22T17:25:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Godot, in _Waiting For Godot_ I’m playing him on Broadway right now. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/7 "2013-10-22T17:27:41Z")
Cervantes/Don Quixote in _Man of La Mancha_ Polonius in _Hamlet_ ---
**Author:** ![Tante\_Dillie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Tante\_Dillie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tante_Dillie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/8 "2013-10-22T20:55:36Z")
Lady Catherine de Burgh in a stage version of _P&P_. Lady Bracknell in _Earnest_ (I’ve even got the perfect huge old doctor’s bag to lend to the props person for Miss Prism’s manuscript.) Aunt Agatha in a stage version of Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster stories. Any role previously played by Margaret Dumont. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/9 "2013-10-22T21:16:31Z")
I’d like to play Yorick. I think I could pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Tante\_Dillie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Tante\_Dillie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tante_Dillie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/10 "2013-10-22T21:25:42Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I’d like to play Yorick. I think I could pull it off. A man named Andre Tschaikovsky loved Shakespeare so much that left his skull to the RSC when he died. Now he’s playing Yorick forever. > **[André Tchaikowsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Tchaikowsky)** > > André Tchaikowsky (also Andrzej Czajkowski; born Robert Andrzej Krauthammer; November 1, 1935 – June 26, 1982) was a Polish composer and pianist. In addition to his musical work, he is perhaps best known for bequeathing his skull to the Royal Shakespeare Company for use as Yorick in Hamlet. > Robert Andrzej Krauthammer was born in Warsaw in 1935 into a Jewish family. He had shown musical talent from an early age, and his mother, an amateur pianist, taught him the piano from the age of four. When t... ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/11 "2013-10-22T21:57:53Z")
While I’ve played a couple of small roles in _Our Town_, I always wanted to play Emily. The dream has become increasingly out of reach since a) I am now several generations older than Emily and b) I am not a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/12 "2013-10-22T22:16:37Z")
I want to be the gate guard taking a 20 minute piss in MacBeth. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/13 "2013-10-22T23:27:56Z")
I’d like to play Atticus Finch or Henry Drummond as mentioned above. Other dream parts— Willy Loman in _Death of a Salesman_ Joe Keller in _All My Sons_ And if I could sing, Jesus or Judas in _Jesus Christ Superstar_ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/14 "2013-10-23T00:42:51Z")
Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors or Ado Annie in Oklahoma. Typecasting, I suppose… ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/15 "2013-10-23T04:09:51Z")
Javert in Les Miz. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/16 "2013-10-23T04:18:39Z")
The Baker’s Wife (_Into the Woods_) is my last bucket list role. I did the other two in college: Beatrice (_Much Ado About Nothing_) and Elizabeth Proctor (_The Crucible_), but I’d jump at the chance to do either again. Of course, almost 20 years older, I’d do them much differently. If I had a much much much better rock voice, I’d love to do Jesus in a gender bending _Jesus Christ Superstar_. But I’ll do the world a favor and save that one for the shower. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/17 "2013-10-23T06:49:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Godot, in _Waiting For Godot_ Type cast? As for me, Jean Valjean. Or Cyrano de Bergerac (the source of my screen name). ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/18 "2013-10-23T12:20:49Z")
Teddy in _Arsenic and Old Lace_ ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/19 "2013-10-23T15:11:59Z")
I can’t sing or dance, and have never tried acting. If this is about FANTASY, well, I wish I had the talent to play any number of roles, even though I’m sure I’d be terrible if I ever actually tried. If I were EVER to try for a role in an amateur theater company… I’d audition for Shelly “The Machine” Levene in\*\*\* Glengarry Glen Ross\*\*\*, since that’s one of my favorite plays. I’d never be able to play an alpha male like Ricky Roma, but I think I’d be a convincing sad sack. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917/20 "2013-10-23T17:00:35Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > If I had a much much much better rock voice, I’d love to do Jesus in a gender bending _Jesus Christ Superstar_. But I’ll do the world a favor and save that one for the shower. I’d love to play Judas–we should get something started. 🙂 My high school only did musicals every other year, and unfortunately (or perhaps not), we had some _stellar_ dancers, so the Powers That Be always picked shows with a lot of dancing, and therefore the fat girl didn’t get great parts. ☹ My senior year we almost did _Sweeney Todd_, and I would have been Mrs. Lovett, without a doubt. I’m still bitter, so I guess that’s my top pick. Others would definitely include the Baker’s Wife from _Into the Woods_, Adelaide in _Guys and Dolls_, and Tracy in _Hairspray_. Most of the other really good roles are out of my vocal range, alas. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-theater-lovers-roles-youd-like-to-play/671917.md?page=2)