I’d not want some terrible casting choices near me, a Dorothy who is so old and not even a natural brunette, I don’t see why such easy things are so wrong.
DSM people are never cast their actual age or hair colour for stage work because you aren't seeing them up close. The shoes aren't really magic and Dorothy isn't really her name either. Being a natural brunette would make absolutely zero difference from the auditorium.
Ian Smith Why wig her then, it’s wasting money when many decent actresses and even from the stands I know she can’t pass as 14 and many teenagers would love this role, we cast 14/15 year olds as Annie in the west end although they don’t give the role to a natural redhead and that’s the only role on stage they could do as I doubt real gingers would want their hair covered
No actor cares about having their hair covered in a musical, they prefer it. Wearing a wig means that your hair isn't damaged. Only in an amateur production does an actress want to put putting her hair in rollers every night. It destroys your hair. Also, in a musical your hair would be dropping out after a few numbers because of the heat of the lights and the choreography. Wigs are easier to maintain and more reliable in terms of maintaining the required look for the entire show. That is why wigs are used. Your comment on wigs wasting money is nonsense. Dorothy is 16 in the movie and stage musical. Only auditioning actors with the correct hair colour is a preposterous idea.
Ian Smith Only brunettes want to be Dorothy and this girl is dark haired and pigtails don’t need heat this is just Australia being lazy with casting as wigs on stage are often on unknown talent who don’t deserve such a privelleged.
No, wigs are used on female actors in all period musicals. Don't make up imagination. You are entirely incorrect. Wigs are always used for all the reasons I stated previously. Actors are cast because they can play the role, in musicals the singing, acting and dancing requirement is difficult enough to fill and then you add in factors like height and size - why would any casting director choose to make their job harder when a wig is already going to be used anyway? It just doesn't make business sense. Also, nowhere in the show do they say Dorothy is a brunette. It's not written into the text so actually there is no reason Dorothy has to be brunette anyway other than preference of the production team and whether they want her image to be close to the movie or not. There was a red headed Dorothy in London.
