First-made me smile: Not too many websites can you type 'Rat King' and everyone knows what you're talking about.

Now. I direct a LOCAL production of Nutcracker--anyone in the community tries out, everyone gets a part. This year we were super short on guys. I had to cast the Nutcracker as a girl. problem is, out rat king (who is and 11 year old boy) is shorter than the nutcracker. It's too late to recast, and even if it was, I don't have much choice. That said, how stupid is this going to look? Usually we have an adult man with rat king and a teen boy as nutcracker. What can I do (if you think it's going to look dumb) to make the rat king scarier?

When the ballet company I danced with when I was younger did Nutcracker, the Rat King was often played by a girl who was shorter than the Nutcracker. No one thought it was weird. I mean, rats are smaller than nutcrackers whether they are normal-sized or huge like they are in the ballet.