Cast size: 4 women, 3 men
Most of the cast members are based upon an old beat journal The Beat
Journey. This publication contained images that inspired the composer to create the play's characters after.
He found the dog-eared journal among the dusty stacks of Concordia
University's library in Montreal. Get hip and split on down to MacDougal Street to meet some Real Beats,
daddio!
? MRS. POPOV - Aging Russian immigrant and owner of the Firefly Cafe where the beatniks hang out. She is very suspicious of the beatniks, dislikes their lazy ways, and talks highly of her well-educated daughter, Natasha. She is a very strong-minded woman and has survived many ordeals throughout her life. She even sings about her own harshness in the song,
"Siberian Tiger." She epitomizes the Russian attitude of "You never know how much I suffer, and I've worked so hard all my life."
NICKY-9-DOORS - An art school drop-out, beatnik extraordinaire and Renaissance man. Nicky-9-doors is a nickname for this comic relief character, Nicholas Nindor. He is a somewhat obsessed and paranoid poet who thinks the atomic bomb is going to blow up the world and he has bought an old junk typewriter to write down his life's story before the blast. He laments his lot in life in the song
"King-O' Bohemi-0' Blues."
RITA - An angry motorcycle momma who has been in jail not too far in the recent past. She barely puts up with Nicky-9-door's antics and constantly confronts Mrs. Popov. She is looking to find her place in life and wants to find Beatville to have a good time. She counters Nicky-9-door's
"King-O' Bohemi-0' Blues" with a refrain of "Queen-O' Bohemi-0'
Blues."
NATASHA - Mrs. Popov's daughter who has dropped out of college to become the coolest and hippest beatnik chick. She spouts the
"On The Road" philosophy and just having a good time. However,
her mom literally disowns her when she sees her daughter arrive at the
café dressed as a beatnik. Still, Natasha charms the Beat gang at the Firefly
Café when she sings "Beatnik Chick."
JACKIE - A beatnik-in training who
has recently dropped out of college to try to gain some some self-confidence by listening to Rita and attempting to become hip.
J.P. TROUBADOUR - A wandering minstrel from Louisiana who shows up with a guitar on his back and one who's been on the road and knows the scene. He is the hippest and coolest cat this side of the Bayou and eventually answers the
eternal question in song, "How do I get to Beatville?"
? FBI AGENT - A paranoid and mistrusting agent who has forsaken his own bureau in order to expel communist sympathizers throughout the States. He will take any means necessary to see that Mrs. Popov is deported. He equally detests the beatniks who frequent the Firefly Cafe. He sings a response to the beatniks' taunts in
"Oh Daddio, Where Ya Gonna Go?"
Cast information is also contained in the downloadable
script
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