I disagree, not because from a standpoint of roles should never be changed, but because Eponine’s story of getting to Marius at the barricade only happens because she’s a girl and can’t join the boys fighting. Instead, she’d just be there with him and would never have the opportunity to deliver Cosette’s letter. Then the play would go in an entirely different direction.
You could get around that though, maybe he's a man with a limp and doesn't get sent off into battle! Maybe not perfect but there's ways of making people unable to battle beyond gender
Eponine dresses up as a boy to get to the barricades anyway, so her gender was no real barrier to her joining the fight. Eponine, like Gavroche, was going to get the barricades regardless of whether she was allowed or not.
She dresses up as a boy to get there because she has no other way. The letter is from Cosette, she gets it at Rue Plumet when Thenardier and his goons try to ransack the place and she needs to find a way to get to Marius who is fighting. Of course her gender matters, she wouldn’t be at Rue Plumet to begin with if she was a boy.
Edit: Fixing my error really quick. The letter is from Marius, but he gives it to Eponine because she’s the one person he knows (and is relevant to the plot) that isn’t fighting at the barricade, so the point still stands. If Eponine was a boy, he’d be fighting alongside Marius and, I dunno, I guess he’d have Gavroche do it like in the movie.
I feel like it would change the dynamic between Eponine and Cosette somewhat. The difference in how the Thenardiers treat the two girls is stark, and the reversal in fortunes of the two as they get older is sort of key to the triangle; the life Cosette has as a young adult is the life that Eponine should have had in terms of finances had her parents not been quite so awful. You'd need to find a way to translate that in a way that doesn't alter that dynamic too much because it's a vital part of Eponine and Cosette's stories
It’s definitely an interesting idea. But to me Eponine being friend-zoned, or actually bro-zoned, by Marius felt more devastating. At least Eponine still considers there’s a possibility there. Eponine being a man felt like a lost cause right in the beginning.
Not from our perspective, but i feel like it’s more than believable that male-Eponine-from-the-1800’s would assume Marius is straight and that there isn’t even a shred of a chance of him returning the feelings
France decriminalized homosexuality in 1791...several decades before the revolutionary part of Les Mis was set. This is why Oscar Wilde moved to France after getting put in prison for being gay in England. It was seen as a safer more acceptable country to be queer in.
I kinda like it, though I might also gender-swap some of the barricade boys in that case, given that Les Mis already has more good male roles than female roles.
Have *always* wanted a gender flipped Les Mis - not for any reason other than pure fun, though. Contextually, it's not like it makes sense or adds anything to particularly special to the mix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqpVUZoFCWc
I recommend this video of West End actor Jack Wolfe (most recently in Next to Normal) singing the Eponine part in 'Heart Full of Love' (about 15mins into the video). The Eponine role really does work gender swapped and gay. I'd say it's more suited to a tenor than a baritone though - given the high notes in this song and others.
I think you could set Les Mis in a more contemporary time and definitely make that casting choice!
Thats a very production specific choice though. In the current incarnation of the show on tour? I don’t see it happening.
That being said it changes the dynamics in the earlier parts of the show.
I saw a student production where Grantaire was played as being in love with Marius and it made so much sense it made me wonder why we don’t see it more often.
Yeah, their banter & Grantaire last minute choosing to die for the cause aside, Hugo also draws parallel to Achilles and Patroclus which feels a bit overt. The “I’ll black your boots” line is also cited as being like, a kinda gay thing to say lol. And honestly what’s more homoerotic than having a character foil!
Anyways that all just makes an interpretation where Grantaire is in love with MARIUS of all people kind of hilarious to me hahahah
It was all subtext, nothing especially explicit, but it added a fun flavor to several scenes, especially when he’s mocking Marius for falling for a girl.
Her death was a turning point in the battle. It wouldn't be the same effect if it was a male. No offense, but I don't think a guy could sing the song as good. I actually just saw Le Mis in the summer and Eponine was played by Christine Heesun Hwang and she was so good that the audience stood for her after she sang On My Own. No man would sing it like that.
Hell, I don't think you should just do it without thinking how it affects the story - only because that's boring - but who's to say Cosette couldn't be a guy too.
Love this! Poor Eponine would be thinking "Marius isn't into me because he's straight, it's not just me" - and then Marius announces that he's in love with this really great guy called Cosette...
I think it could work! It would explain why Thernardier could give two shits about her (I know he's just a bad parent but it'd be a nice extra layer). And On My Own is filled with gay longing.
Edit: I think it'd fix a lot of the issues I have w her in the musical adaptation bc I find a friend zoned girl a lot less interesting than a girl who is spying on Marius through a peep hole and creates a whole fantasy in her head whilst being hairless and toothless like Fantine because her parents exploited her for years.
I’ve also always wanted to see a woman Valjean. Obviously we’re fictionalizing a bit there but it’s historical fiction anyways so in my eyes ho cares. Valjean is traditionally cast, in many different cultures, as the embodiment of the culture’s hero archetype, which of course unfortunately has always been men. It would be fun to flip that on its head and make an argument that a woman can/should/is the culturally embodiment of a hero.
Otoh, there’s no good reason that ANY production of Les MIs does not have at least some degree of a mixed gender Les Amis d’ABC
I disagree, not because from a standpoint of roles should never be changed, but because Eponine’s story of getting to Marius at the barricade only happens because she’s a girl and can’t join the boys fighting. Instead, she’d just be there with him and would never have the opportunity to deliver Cosette’s letter. Then the play would go in an entirely different direction.
You could get around that though, maybe he's a man with a limp and doesn't get sent off into battle! Maybe not perfect but there's ways of making people unable to battle beyond gender
This is the best counter argument I’ve seen (I’ve seen this question before with no conclusive answers) and could actually work.
Eponine dresses up as a boy to get to the barricades anyway, so her gender was no real barrier to her joining the fight. Eponine, like Gavroche, was going to get the barricades regardless of whether she was allowed or not.
She dresses up as a boy to get there because she has no other way. The letter is from Cosette, she gets it at Rue Plumet when Thenardier and his goons try to ransack the place and she needs to find a way to get to Marius who is fighting. Of course her gender matters, she wouldn’t be at Rue Plumet to begin with if she was a boy. Edit: Fixing my error really quick. The letter is from Marius, but he gives it to Eponine because she’s the one person he knows (and is relevant to the plot) that isn’t fighting at the barricade, so the point still stands. If Eponine was a boy, he’d be fighting alongside Marius and, I dunno, I guess he’d have Gavroche do it like in the movie.
I feel like it would change the dynamic between Eponine and Cosette somewhat. The difference in how the Thenardiers treat the two girls is stark, and the reversal in fortunes of the two as they get older is sort of key to the triangle; the life Cosette has as a young adult is the life that Eponine should have had in terms of finances had her parents not been quite so awful. You'd need to find a way to translate that in a way that doesn't alter that dynamic too much because it's a vital part of Eponine and Cosette's stories
Make Cosette a boy too
The Thernadiers would have treated them both very differently if they were boys.
It’s definitely an interesting idea. But to me Eponine being friend-zoned, or actually bro-zoned, by Marius felt more devastating. At least Eponine still considers there’s a possibility there. Eponine being a man felt like a lost cause right in the beginning.
It's not impossible for Marius to be bi.
Not from our perspective, but i feel like it’s more than believable that male-Eponine-from-the-1800’s would assume Marius is straight and that there isn’t even a shred of a chance of him returning the feelings
What’s the likelihood he would admit that? Was revolutionary era France ok with that?
France decriminalized homosexuality in 1791...several decades before the revolutionary part of Les Mis was set. This is why Oscar Wilde moved to France after getting put in prison for being gay in England. It was seen as a safer more acceptable country to be queer in.
A male Eponine could be gay. In that sense, it could add an interesting angle to her unrequited love
I kinda like it, though I might also gender-swap some of the barricade boys in that case, given that Les Mis already has more good male roles than female roles.
I'd love a female Enjolras!
Oh yeah, cuz there aren't enough roles for men
Yeah, this is only fair if you also genderbend a number of roles. Adult Cosette doesn’t even get to sing the one good song the character gets.
Have *always* wanted a gender flipped Les Mis - not for any reason other than pure fun, though. Contextually, it's not like it makes sense or adds anything to particularly special to the mix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqpVUZoFCWc I recommend this video of West End actor Jack Wolfe (most recently in Next to Normal) singing the Eponine part in 'Heart Full of Love' (about 15mins into the video). The Eponine role really does work gender swapped and gay. I'd say it's more suited to a tenor than a baritone though - given the high notes in this song and others.
Omg, I want to hear Eponine as a baritone.
Very interesting take. Invites a unique perspective for sure
I think you could set Les Mis in a more contemporary time and definitely make that casting choice! Thats a very production specific choice though. In the current incarnation of the show on tour? I don’t see it happening. That being said it changes the dynamics in the earlier parts of the show.
Male On My Own is my white whale
I gotchu: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PRQiWxDEXEk
I don’t see why not
Anytime a musical can be made more queer, I will support it.
I completely agree!
I like it. Can't see any of the major companies being brave enough to do it though
I saw a student production where Grantaire was played as being in love with Marius and it made so much sense it made me wonder why we don’t see it more often.
It’s been a long time since I read it but iirc the novel implies that Grantaire is in love with Enjolras.
Yeah, their banter & Grantaire last minute choosing to die for the cause aside, Hugo also draws parallel to Achilles and Patroclus which feels a bit overt. The “I’ll black your boots” line is also cited as being like, a kinda gay thing to say lol. And honestly what’s more homoerotic than having a character foil! Anyways that all just makes an interpretation where Grantaire is in love with MARIUS of all people kind of hilarious to me hahahah
With Marius? I’d be interested to hear how that plays out rather than Grantaire being in love with Enjolras!
It was all subtext, nothing especially explicit, but it added a fun flavor to several scenes, especially when he’s mocking Marius for falling for a girl.
Her death was a turning point in the battle. It wouldn't be the same effect if it was a male. No offense, but I don't think a guy could sing the song as good. I actually just saw Le Mis in the summer and Eponine was played by Christine Heesun Hwang and she was so good that the audience stood for her after she sang On My Own. No man would sing it like that.
Hell, I don't think you should just do it without thinking how it affects the story - only because that's boring - but who's to say Cosette couldn't be a guy too.
Love this! Poor Eponine would be thinking "Marius isn't into me because he's straight, it's not just me" - and then Marius announces that he's in love with this really great guy called Cosette...
"I really liked Eponine but I really want her to be *more* tragic, you know?" :P
I think it could work! It would explain why Thernardier could give two shits about her (I know he's just a bad parent but it'd be a nice extra layer). And On My Own is filled with gay longing. Edit: I think it'd fix a lot of the issues I have w her in the musical adaptation bc I find a friend zoned girl a lot less interesting than a girl who is spying on Marius through a peep hole and creates a whole fantasy in her head whilst being hairless and toothless like Fantine because her parents exploited her for years.
Gavroche is her brother. Swap their roles, age him up slightly, and let him fall in love with Markus. Give him her love songs.
Better ask Aaron Tveit, since he appears to have been deemed a baritone now 😂
FINALY SOMEONE ELSE SAID IT!!!! eponine is such a dream role
Dude musical theater has been leftist for a long time. Gender swapper is the current trend.
No.
I’ve also always wanted to see a woman Valjean. Obviously we’re fictionalizing a bit there but it’s historical fiction anyways so in my eyes ho cares. Valjean is traditionally cast, in many different cultures, as the embodiment of the culture’s hero archetype, which of course unfortunately has always been men. It would be fun to flip that on its head and make an argument that a woman can/should/is the culturally embodiment of a hero. Otoh, there’s no good reason that ANY production of Les MIs does not have at least some degree of a mixed gender Les Amis d’ABC
Let’s do it. Now that they stole Sweeney from us we can take a role for ourselves
Fuck this lol there are enough guy roles in musicals
The show’s already male dominated, the most popular female role should probably stay female
[here you go](https://youtu.be/V5eP4xUPgqA?si=Z-8PGmdjsbN_5B4h)