CHARACTER SKETCHES

THE BAND

EDDIE DOYLE (Bari-tenor) is in his 50s now.  Eddie graduated from Crosby High.  Played quarterback on the football team.  Enjoyed history and math and liked to play guitar with his best buddy Vinny.  He met his sweetheart Gracie when he went to work as an usher at the Palace Theater.  He organized the band and came up with the name Palaceades.  When Gracie got pregnant, he insisted they give up the touring and head back to Brass City so he could get a proper job to raise the family.  He joined the Fire Department where he is now a Captain.  He starts with a rosey-eyed view of his hometown and gets into a fight with his daughter Mary over her magazine's Places Rated issue.  He wants to save the Palace from demolition and show Biggie who's the boss.  He comes to see the faults in the old hometown and pledges to make it better and recognizes that his competitiveness with Biggie has cost him the family ties he truly values.

VINNY MORIARTY  (Bari-tenor) is in his 50s.  Vinny attended Crosby High.  He was manager of the football team and President of the HI-Y Social Club that organized school dances and special events.  He teamed up with Eddie as an usher at the Palace and there he met his future bride, Isabel.  Isabel was working the ticket booth.  She was a home economics student at Wilby High and loved to play drums in the jazz band.  The couple got pregnant about the same time as Eddie and Gracie and they called the kids their "band twins".  When the band came off the road Isabel's dad helped them start a music store which Vinny still operates.  Isabel was diagnosed with cancer and passed away last year.  Vinnie is still coping with the loss of his wife and relies on his son Ryan and bandmates Eddie and Gracie for emotional support.  He is Eddie's loyal wingman with a more practical view of the city.

GRACIE DOYLE (Mezzo) is in her 50s.  Gracie went to Sacred Heart High School and took piano lessons from "Professor" Burney. He impressed on her the virtues of the classics but she preferred Jerry Lee Lewis.  She got her first job at the Palace where she sold popcorn and candy and where she met Eddie.  She was the ringleader for the good times the band had together out on the road and was disappointed to move back home.  But she delighted in raising her daughter Mary and is both proud and a bit jealous of her daughter's success in New York.  The opening concert at the Palace stirs up her old dreams of a music career and when Eddie treats their daughter meanly she erupts and departs for New York to take a last grab at her dream.

THE DAUGHTER

MARY DOYLE (Mezzo) is in her 20s.  Mary loved English and Writing in high school and was Editor of the school newspaper.  She had fun in Brass City at school dances and picnics at the lake, but saw the city heading downhill with few exciting opportunities for the writing career she sought.   When she chose a college she wanted to get out of town as far as she could go and landed at University of California, Berkley.  Now she is a feature writer at Money Magazine in New York City.  She and her parents look at Brass City through a different lens.  Still they are close and she depends on their encouragement and support.  She may start out a bit self-centered and ambitious, but her eyes open to other peoples hidden agendas and other peoples feelings.

 THE BOYFRIEND 

RYAN MORIARTY (Tenor) is in his 20s.  Ryan shared Mary's love for language and writing and always had a great nose for news.  A bit more down to earth than Mary, he was the business manager for the school paper.  After high school, he stayed local going to Southern Connecticut State and working part time as a reporter for the Brass City Bugle where he is building his career.  Always close growing up as neighbors and kids of best friends, Ryan and Mary's friendship blossomed into a high school romance. But after graduation, time and distance and different priorities caused them to drift apart.  But Ryan hasn't gotten over his high school sweetheart and patiently hopes they can get back together.

THE POLITICIANS

MAYOR BIGGIE WILLIAMS (Bari-tenor)is in his 40s.  He is a three time mayor in Brass City and has his eye on running for Governor.  He has a superficial charm that endears him to people who feel that he cares for them as he schmoozes his way through a crowd.  He likes to hook his supporters, get them in his debt and then use them to accomplish his own agenda.  The city has a "strong mayor" form of government and Biggie likes to play the strongman, doing favors and making deals.  Having been elected over and over he has a sense of entitlement and feels that making money off his deals is only right since the mayor's job pays so little compared to the big CEOs in the private sector.

THE ALDERMEN.  The three aldermen are cronies of Biggie Williams who bend to his political will.  Ethnicity, age  and gender are flexible for casting purposes.  They are individually distinct, but also operate as a group character with dance routines and harmonic interaction.

THE LOCAL COLOR

There are numerous small roles and background characters including Theater Owner, Cops, Famous acts that played the Palace, Protesters, News stand vendor, Towns people, Campaign workers, Voters, TV Host, Radio Announcer, Red Bus Tour Driver, Flower vendor, TV audience.

 

The aldermen and local color can be played by an ensemble.  To date the show has run with as few as 7 and as many as 12 actors.  The cast can be expanded by eliminating doubling.