SYNOPSIS: Inspired by a true story and featuring the Tony®-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Broadway’s BRIGHT STAR tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and ’40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past—and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives. With beautiful melodies and powerfully moving characters, the story unfolds as a rich tapestry of deep emotion. An uplifting theatrical journey that holds you tightly in its grasp, BRIGHT STAR is as refreshingly genuine as it is daringly hopeful.
CHARACTERS:
Alice Murphy – plays both 16-17 and 36-37. Alice at age 36-37 is an editor of a southern literary magazine; intelligent, attractive, professional – but with an air of melancholy. Young Alice at age 16-17 is rebellious, high-spirited, adventurous – looking to break out of small-town life and experience the world. She must be very strong singer and comfortable in folk and bluegrass styles.
Billy Cane – a young soldier returning home from WWII; an aspiring young writer; fresh, open, optimistic, charming, and a little naïve.
Daddy Cane – Billy’s father. A widower. Spry, good looking. Kind hearted, if a bit lonely.
Margo Crawford – a small-town bookstore owner; a childhood friend of Billy’s who now harbors romantic feelings towards him; a natural beauty with a keen intellect.
Max – a customer at Margo’s bookstore, at first, he has a crush on Margo, but later becomes Edna’s beau.
Florence – an employee at Margo’s bookstore and a childhood friend of both Billy and Margo.
Edna – an employee at Margo’s bookstore.
Daryl Ames – An assistant at a literary magazine. Funny, with a dry and officious sense of humor. Insecure, and perhaps a bit socially awkward, but endearing and innately likeable.
Lucy Grant – A junior editor at a literary magazine. An ambitious, professional young “modern” career woman of the 1940’s. Strong, forthright and provocative with a sharp sense of humor.
Mama Murphy – Alice’s mother. A caretaker to her family and her rural community. A warm, loving, sensible woman. Hardworking, with great inner strength and compassion.
Daddy Murphy – Alice’s father; an authoritative and a stern disciplinarian; devoutly religious, hard-working, a poor but proud farmer.
Mayor Josiah Dobbs – the Mayor of Zebulon; a political and financial powerbroker – distinguished, an imposing and controlling presence; has a genuine interest in protecting his son’s future and his family name, but in doing so, is ultimately pushed to a point of extreme and irrevocable cruelty.
Jimmy Ray Dobbs – plays both age 18-20 and 38-40. Jimmy Ray in his early 20s in flashbacks is Mayor Dobbs’ son and young Alice’s beau; handsome, boyishly charming, well-built and intelligent; from a family of wealth and power and is being groomed by his father for a similar future in the family business; an independent thinker who is not afraid to stand up to his father for what he believes in; he has a sense of personal responsibility and morality as well as a deep reserve of passion and emotion. The same actor will also play an adult Jimmy Ray at age 38-40.
Stanford – Loyal assistant to Mayor Josiah Dobbs
Dr. Norquist – The local family doctor in Zebulon
Government Clerk – A clerk at the Office of Records in Raleigh
Well-Dressed Woman – A woman (38-40) living in Raleigh
Opportunities for featured casting in the ensemble.