Cast Bio IX: Toni

Toni is a twenty-five year old young woman who has been raised all her life in the theatre business by her single father Christoph, who is a somewhat famous director, actor, and overall theatre connoisseur. Since Toni was a young child, her dream has been to be a renowned and accomplished director of Broadway productions. Toni’s father has been both a help and a hindrance in regards to Toni accomplishing her dream, but despite their somewhat awkward and strange relationship, Toni constantly works toward persevering independently as well as developing her own unique craft which she hopes will one day bring her great success.

Cast Bio VIII: Steven

One year ago, the man known as the Masked Vindicator, his true identity unknown, reemerged from obscurity after his sudden disappearance following the defeat of his enemy Deltus Slate, a terrorist doctor who built an army by inflicting memory loss on his prisoners and turning them into soldiers. Slate himself was vanquished in the legendary war, but many of his soldiers remained, carrying on Slate’s mischief. When it was discovered that Slate’s army was targeting the beautiful Warden of Fowl, Alexandria, and her true love Bison, the Masked Vindicator vowed to protect them both from harm. He took on an apprentice for this mission: Scarlet, a bitter, but determined young woman who was widowed in the recent war.

Names, Pt 4

Pete aka Crazy Pete. Pete had to be a really short, hurried sounding name. The long e coupled with the harsh consonants of P and T makes Pete not only actually short, but also sound chopped and brief. It's also a somewhat common everyday name making it sound unassuming until you add the adjective Crazy to the front.

Sam was another one of those asexual names. It because of Lord of the Rings it makes you think of a good friend which is what I was really going for: a name that inspires trust. I actually can't think of a villain that's ever been named Sam. If I'm wrong there, correct me, I'm curious.

Sherlock Holmes yeah...

Steven. I've know several Stevens and they're all kind of off. That was really important for this character because he's really off. Steven also has a kind of comical sound to it somehow which was another important factor.

Sycophant was one of the only synonyms left.

Toni was chosen for being a technically nondescript name, but with that spelling it really isn't. It has an Italian sound which somehow makes things sound artistic and also it's a strong, leaderly name.

Cast Bio VII: Daisy

Daisy was born an energetic child with music on her mind. She could sing before she could speak and recognize printed songs faster than the alphabet. Her parents strove to help her pursue her interests, but had a hard time convincing her to stay on one track. First it was Piano, then Ballet, then Magic tricks, then Acting, then Veterinary school, then Vocal Performance, then Cooking school, then living out of the backyard to “connect with nature” and learn to garden, which unfortunately did not pay well. Gardening led to flower arranging (it paid a bit better than gardening), which led her to selling and delivering flowers, which led her back to the theatre.

In her own mind, Daisy considered herself to be the perfect match for the theatre. She was pretty, enthusiastic, an excellent actress, and a fabulous singer. Unfortunately, no company she auditioned for shared her opinion. Her wide range of experiences left a long resume with little matching material. This left Daisy feeling she could do anything, and employers feeling she could do nothing. Finally, she decided to put her talent to work backstage, with the plan of catching a director’s eye and finally giving her the recognition and lead role she deserved. This meant, of course, that the director would have to hear her fabulous voice and see her talent. Looking to the father of theatre then, Daisy assumed the motto, “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players” (Shakespeare). Daisy’s passion for the stage rules her every movement and word. Her (deviously) eccentric and overly energetic behaviors are signs of her desperation for the fulfillment of what she believes to be her only true passion: Musical Theatre.

Cast Bio VI: Barrett

Barrett was born and raised, military. He fired his first gun at the ripe age of 18 months. He enlisted into the army the day he was old enough. His first fight, would be the invasion of Grenada. There, he would quickly rise in rank until one day being approached by men in black, who would offer him a job on a super top secret mission of extraordinary importance. Needless to say, that part of Barrett's story is, well, super top secret. He seemingly disappeared and was never heard from again until one bright sun shining Tuesday morning he applied for a job on Broadway as a special effects supervisor, citing an old jazz dance injury as the reason for being discharged from the military. Is Barrett truly settling down behind Broadway? or could this be part of a bigger, unseen plan? Only time will tell. That is, if Barrett doesn't silence it first.

Cast Bio V: Frank

Arianna, (or better known as Frank) grew up in Pascoag, Rhode Island, battling early symptoms of memory loss, and training for the World Cup Golf Tournament for the better half of her life. About a year ago, she was old enough to enter the long-awaited competition. So Arianna, being competitive and daring by nature, entered as a man, positive that she would win the whole shebang. Long story short, she was disqualified and detained from playing golf and ever since then, she has been known as Frank. Afterwards, she decided to take a new outlook on life, and go out for acting. Little did she know that the life of a thesbian would require lines.. and memorizing them..

Names, Pt 3

Lackey is, like Flunky shear laziness. Fortunately Carol Anne is doing a wonderful job of breathing life into the character.

Lil was honestly named after the character in Rugrats. I was going for a similar personality.

Lou just sounds like a veteran at whatever job you give him. Lou is in fact a girl ala Cindy Lou Who but it still sounds vetereny. She's the head of the running crew and I needed to have an experienced name.

Louis has no relation to Lou. Once again, it just sounded coppy.

Nicholas needed to sound coppy but it also had to sound young, like the rookie. I went with a name that most would probably not say the full thing and instead go with a nickname until he earns it. Nicholas is a lot of syllables.

O'Leary. C'mon. It's a rule. One cop has to be Irish.

Parker is one of those names that was around since the one act so it had to be gender neutral. It could also be either a last name or a first name, I won't tell you which, and it sounds professional but in a kind of slacker way. Like someone who could run a multi-million dollar company but does so in blue jeans and a hoodie.

Names, Pt 2

Clarence is a nerd and with a name like Clarence, how could he not be? I chose this name, not considering the potential confusion between it and Claire, because it's one of those that when you hear you can't help but wonder, what were his parents thinking? If you have named a child Clarence, I'm not sorry, and if you're considering naming a child Clarence, thank God you read this before it was too late.

Daisy is a name you don't hear much anymore and it makes you think of a flowerchild for obvious reasons. It carries a hint of eccentricity behind it but also has a fantastical, fairy sound.

Flunky is yet another no name obviously. I believe I did this out of laziness. I didn't feel like giving Flunky a name and I didn't develop the character much either. Fortunately Hannah has.

Frank is a fairly basic name. You don't hear it too much in our generation, for some reason parents have recently started calling Franks by their full name, Franklin. Yeah, that's less likely to be mocked. Anyway, I wanted this character to have a basic, nondescript name. I also liked how it sounds following the phrase, "Darn it". Try it.

Giralto is very Italian sounding. That's really all I wanted. It needed to sound like an artist and you can't go wrong with an Italian name there. That's a tip, write that down.

Ian is bland. Cool people can and have been named Ian but it's a very bland name and that's what I wanted. A name that's easily forgotten and James constantly doing so has proven that I was successful

Keith was chosen primarily because I was thinking about "Hoodwinked" at the time. It was one of those bizarre instances where I chose the name without thinking about the character and the character kind of came with the name. Names are very powerful.

- T.J. Mercer

Cast Bio IV: Parker

Having moved from the Midwest in his early teens after successfully starting a small business selling aerating shoes to farmer’s wives, Parker decided to follow his dream of being amid the bright stage lights of Broadway. Soon he discovered that he really could not actually tolerate those self-same bright lights, Parker found the niche in which his keen mind and extraordinary interpersonal management skills could be best utilized: stage managing. Corralling actors, placating divas and whipping backstage personnel into a well-oiled machine were the things that filled the stage-shaped gap he had been longing for all his life.

After quickly rising through the ranks and 10 successful years as a theater stage manager, he was picked to manage a new show for a new director to be her support as she made her debut. Of course, no stage manger worth his salt could do anything without an assistant to attend to the details and scheduling needed to keep the show running, so when he discovered the Assistant, he knew he had found the right person to aid him in this most recent, and somewhat hair-brained, new show.

Names, Pt 1

For me personally, choosing names is one of the most time consuming parts of writing. I tend to overthink it really. Every one has met at least one person that they always want to call by a different name because they don't look like their actual name. My goal is to keep that from happening and just have the name fit the character. Usually. Sometimes there are other factors.

When James and I first started writing we knew we'd probably need a larger cast than most of the other submissions so we asked what gender ratio we'd have. Girls to boys 10 to 1. So we decided that rather than basically say, okay this is a guy, we gave everyone gender neutral names. We knew that the diva and the understudy had to be the same gender so those were given unmovable names but everyone else could be either.

Helena was chosen because it's the kind of name that A: would be given by wealthier parents, B: would frequently be incorrectly said by lesser-thans resulting in harsh criticism and C: it sounds Greek and that carries certain visual images. Toga! Toga! Toga!

Claire was picked because it has an assuming sound to it. It's a bit of an everyman name but you also don't hear it much anymore. It's hard to picture someone with the name Claire being mean unless you've met a mean Claire. There's another reason why that name was chosen however that I haven't even told James yet. When I first wrote the script for the one act, Claire actually had a different name. I can't remember for the life of me what it was but I changed it when I was halfway through the script. Why? I was working on the "Memories" parody and I needed her name to rhyme with air.

Addison was one of those open ended names. James suggested it and I went with it because that was one of the characters I kind of wanted to be a guy and it does sound kind of boyish.. I've never actually met a girl named Addison but I have heard tale they exist.

Assistant is without a name because of a young man named Will Norris. Actually, he's pushing 30 now. Anyway, he was the assistant stage manager in a play I was in once and we all treated him like dirt. One actor referred to him as banana boy. We would ask him to do weird things. And ignored most of what he told us. I figured I'd keep with that idea and not even really acknowledge the position as a person.

Barrett just sounds tough. It's also one of those wonderful names that you can't be sure if it's a last name or a first name. That'll make more sense when you see the show.

Brown just sounded very coppish.

Christoph is very similar to Helena namewise. It sounds snooty, like it probably isn't actually the person's real name, and like someone trying to appear French. It's also almost never read correctly at first glance which makes me happy.

Brief Character List

Addison

A younger actor whose career is going well. He's a good at what he does but he's currently love sick for his ex, Helena, and this is affecting his ability to prepare. He starts off in denial about his feelings but they steadily get worse as the show progresses.

Assistant

Lives for the sole purpose of making Parker's life easier. She is to Parker what Marcie is to Peppermint Patty in Peanuts. She's not a kiss up but she does live to serve. In her eyes Parker (whom she always addresses as "Sir") She's very quick on her feet and very seldomly has to stop to think.

Barrett

The props manager and a Vietnam Veteran. He's hardened, grizzly, subtly frightening and possibly insane. He's not a bully or mean but because of his aura, the only person willing to tell him to do anything is Parker.

Brown

The lead cop. He's clearly the leader, due to his stereotype dialogue, and by the book attitude.

Christoph

Christoph is an almost. He is Toni's father and a veteran director nominated three times for a Tony but never got one. He's now a critic and owns the theater. In the latter part of his life he has resigned to become a critic. He's very full of himself, pretends to be British because he wants to be, and is trying to relive his glory days through his daughter.

Claire

The show's new actress and Helena's understudy. She is young and talented with a touch of naiveté. She is easily both optimistic and depressed, and the embodiment of the Chinese curse, "may you find everything you're looking for." She's old friend's with Addison and he got her the audition that led to her being here.

Clarence

The head usher and a nerd. He has recently become inspired to rise up in society and is testing it by organizing the ushers toward a common goal. The power goes to his head he continues trying for more and more…and again… he is a nerd.

Flunky

A member of Helena's entourage. Identical to Sycophant and Lackey. All put up with Helena because they want the limelight of the job, but could do without Helena.

Frank

A newish actress. This is her first really big show and she's nervous. She has one showstopping monologue near the end of the play but she can't memorize it which makes her stressed, which makes it harder to memorize it, which makes her stressed, which makes it harder to memorize it, which makes it…

Giralto

The show's conductor. He puts up with everyone as little as possible and keeps his sentences short and to the point to get himself away faster.

Helena

A diva. She's rude, biting, full of herself, and a handful. She is no longer the brightest and newest talent on Broadway, but she's not old news either. She's in that in-between stage, and it she doesn't like it. While rehearsing she injures herself and this puts her out of commission, but she refuses to take this lying down.

Ian

The sound engineer and a bit of a slacker. He likes his job but you'd never know it. More deadpan than Ben Stein.

Keith

The lighting technician and a kiss up. He knows that Parker is in charge and he wants Parker to know that he likes working with him. Never misses a chance to show Parker that he respects his authority.

Lackey

A member of Helena's entourage. Identical to Sycophant and Flunky. All put up with Helena because they want the limelight of the job, but could do without Helena.

Lil

The low member of the running crew totem pole which means she gets asked to help with everything. She enjoys her job and is very exuberant at it.

Lou

The leader of the running crew. She knows her job and resents the other stuff that she has to do.

Louis

The smart cop. Has a tendency to over think but she's Brown's right-hand man.

Nicholas

The rookie cop. Eager to please and a bit foolhardy. Enjoys the action aspect of the job and sees himself as a renegade cop.

O'Leary

The veteran cop. He could've been promoted long ago but likes the beat. Feels like he's seen everything and consequently keeps a clear head on his shoulders in the most dire of circumstances.

Parker

The stage manager. He is a theater veteran and the person Toni most relies on. He runs a tight ship, and is a hard worker. Due to his experience, he sees himself as a mentor to Toni and tries to help her as much as possible with whatever. While he tries to be fair and holds no "serious" contempt for the cast and crew, he sometimes comes across as stern and more logical than emotional. He likes and appreciates his assistant.

Pete

The psycho cop. He had an incident last year that he loves to talk about but the story changes everytime and frequently makes no sense whatsoever. He's obviously unhinged, so he has a sheriff's badge and his gun is made of wood.

Sam

The actor's voice of reason. She's been in the business a long time and doesn't put up with drama, doing all she can to stop this. She likes working with younger actors because she dreams of getting out of the acting game and starting an acting school and sees this as practice.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes.

Steven

A method actor and like most method actors, he's not fully right in the head. He gets into character and stays there until the last curtain call of the last show.

Sycophant

A member of Helena's entourage. Identical to Flunky and Lackey. All put up with Helena because they want the limelight of the job, but could do without Helena.

Toni

A new director and Christoph's daughter. Toni has gotten many opportunities due to her father's influence, but is trying to step into her own as a director, because she doesn't like her father's methods. She thought she was ready for anything and was taking the show in stride but she learns she needs to find her inner director.

Usher

One of Clarence's followers. A nerd…no really…a N-E-R-D.

-T.J. Mercer, James Legg