Characters & Roles Pippin

PRINCIPALS

3-4 Women

3-4 Men

FEATURED

5 Featured Roles 

ENSEMBLE

Dancers, Gymnasts, Charlemagne’s Army, Monks, Nobility, Peasants, The Players

Gender: Both

Cast Size: Large/Flexible

Dance Requirements: Standard; tricks & tumbling a plus!

CHARACTER DESRIPTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

Leading Player

·      The ultimate 'ring leader.' Masterfully charming and manipulative, the Leading Player is a chameleon of sorts. Guides Pippin through his own story and tries to intervene at the end. Excellent dancer. Obsessed with putting on a great show for the audience.

• Gender: Either

• Age: Flexible

• Vocal range top: Ab4

• Vocal range bottom: Db3

Pippin

·      Our story's young and confused protagonist. The young son of fabled Emperor Charlemagne and heir to the throne, Pippin is bright, educated and restless.  He is longing to find his purpose in life/something completely fulfilling.  Naive, innocent, and discontent.  Eventually finds love, and meaning in life, with Catherine and Theo.

• Gender: Male

• Age: 18 to 21

• Vocal range top: Ab4

• Vocal range bottom: G2

Charlemagne

·      Pippin’s demanding and less-than-attentive father. As the King of the Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne is more comfortable wielding a sword than breaking bread. He wears his years with great pride.  He indulges his wife Fastrada’s extravagance, but isn’t too fond of their son, Lewis.

• Gender: Male

• Age: 50 to 60

• Vocal range top: E4

• Vocal range bottom: G2

Lewis

·      Pippin's not-too-bright half-brother, and, after Pippin, heir to the throne, Lewis is doted upon by his mother, Fastrada, as she attempts to promote his chances of becoming principal heir. Not at all like Pippin, Lewis loves weight lifting, wrestling, showing off, and, most of all, Lewis.

• Age:  18 to 21

• Spoken

 Fastrada

·      Pippin’s conniving stepmother (wife of Charlemagne, mother of Lewis). A seductress, who is no stranger to deceit and betrayal, she is both sexy and smart. Skilled at using her sexual appeal to benefit her and her son.

• Gender: Female

• Age: 35 to 45

• Vocal range top: F5

• Vocal range bottom: A3

Berthe

·      Pippin’s saucy grandmother (and Charlemagne’s mother). She is still attractive and lives in the country where she enjoys the simple pleasures of the senses.  A brassy broad full of wisdom, grace, and sass. When Pippin seeks her advice, she tries to help Pippin and encourages him to enjoy his youth and live his life to the fullest.

• Gender: Female

• Age: 67 to 67

• Vocal range top: C5

• Vocal range bottom: E3

Catherine

·      A widow and mother with a young son and a large estate. She is a beautiful and a hopeless romantic, who possesses graceful elegance. Encounters Pippin at his lowest point, takes him in, and eventually falls in love with him.

• Gender: Female

• Age: 25 to 35

• Vocal range top: Db5

• Vocal range bottom: F#3

Theo

·      A small loveable boy, Theo is Catherine's son and becomes Pippin's friend.

• Gender:  Male

• Age:  6-8 (May cast Elementary Student)

Ensemble/Players/Dancers/Gymnasts/Acrobats:

• Charlemagne’s Army, Monks, Nobility, Peasants, The Players

• Male & female. Early 20's to Mid 30's. Must be strong in jazz, musical, and modern styles of dance.  Singing well is a plus, but not a requirement for casting!

Other Parts:

•       The Head: The dismembered head of a common man, a Visigoth who died on the field of battle against the armies of Charlemagne, the Head relates the realities of warfare to Pippin. The Head finds no glory in having died for his king, no glory in any of the battles he has previously fought in, no glory at all.

•      Beggar: A poor subject of Charlemagne's empire, which Pippin has taken over, the Beggar convinces Pippin of the unfairness of Charlemagne's taxes.

•       Peasant: A poor subject of Charlemagne's empire, the Peasant convinces Pippin that those who work the land should own it.

•       Field Marshall: A military leader in Charlemagne's empire, the Field Marshall informs newly-crowned Pippin of impending disaster as the Huns have attacked and there is no army to ward them off.

•       Noble: A nobleman of the empire, he points out to Pippin that without taxes and land ownership, he has no power over the peasants to raise an arm

Understudies for principal roles, if deemed necessary, will come from ensemble.