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The Heidi Chronicles

Characters

By Wendy Wasserstein

Overview

Original Production

Heidi Holland

Protagonist

  • Naive

Workshop: First produced April 6, 1988, by The Seattle Repertory Theatre

  • Stubborn

Casting Challenges

  • An Art Historian
  • Must play ages 16-40
  • Described as prissy and difficult, by Scoop.

Off-Broadway: Opened on December 12, 1988, Presented by Playwrights Horizons

Reasons for Casting

Broadway: Opened March 9, 1989, at the Plymouth Theatre

  • Comedic and Dramatic Roles

Alison Brie

  • Convincingly played two characters with a large age difference at the same time

Ran for 622 Performances

  • Characters are smart, strong, and independent

1989 Pullitzer Prize for Drama

Awards:

1989 Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Actor in A Play. Nominated for four others.

Susan Johnston

Scoop Rosenbaum

Peter Patrone

Revival

Foil

Antagonist

  • Heidi's best friend

Deuteragonist

  • Implied that he is Heidi's first
  • Heidi's Gay Best Friend

Casting Challenges

  • Challenges Heidi
  • Always there for her through the years
  • Embarrased when Heidi innocently refers to her as her girlfriend, and kisses her on the cheek.
  • Must play ages 16-40
  • Grades Everything
  • Heidi's voice of reason and support system

Broadway: Opened February, 23, 2015, in previews, at The Music Box Theatre.

Casting Challenges

  • Implied that she may be bisexual. Heidi denies it.

Casting Challenges

  • The first boy Heidi bonds with
  • Describes himself as arrogant and difficult, but very smart.
  • Must play ages 16-40
  • Must play 19-40
  • Heidi loves Peter, and has a hard time accepting that he is gay.
  • "A Charismatic Creep"
  • Jewish
  • Italian

Wendy Wasserstein

  • A lawyer and journalist.
  • Becomes a Pediatrician
  • Tells Heidi he loves her on his wedding day

Reason for Casting

Reasons for Casting

Brie Larson

Michael Urie

Max Greenfield

Opened March 23, 2015, but closed May 3, 2015, due to low ticket sales, although praised by critics.

  • Can play older or younger than actual age

Reason for Casting

  • Characters are sassy and sarcastic, also but loyal and realistic.
  • Born on October 8, 1950, in Brooklyn, New York

"You're going to get really messed up unless you learn to take men seriously."

  • Good at playing the "Lovable Douche"

"One of the things about what . . . I do - writing plays - is that a poll is not taken before you say, Well, I'm going to write this because I think that you're going to like this and therefore you'll buy a ticket for this."

  • Granddaughter of Simon Schliefer, a prominent Polish-Jewish Playwright.

Awards:

"The struggle to be considered a grown-up begins, I believe, shortly after birth."

2015 Tony Nominee for Best Actress in a Play.

  • Graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1971

By Olivia Solomon

"I don't much like to think that being a bachelor girl limits how you see the world. On the other hand, I know it certainly limits how the world sees you."

Becky/Clara/Denise

Jill/Molly/Betsy/April

Fran/Debbie/Lisa

Chris Boxer/Mark/Waiter/TV Attendant/ Ray

  • Received an MFA from Yale School of Drama in 1976

Fran

Jill

Betsy

Denise

Becky

Lisa

A 40 year old mother of four. She is a member of Susan's Women's Conciousness-Raising Group.

Lisa's younger sister. Works at a T.V. station. Doesn't have a Southern accent like her sister.

A friend of Lisa (Scoop's wife), 35.

Managing Editor of Scoop's magazine.

A 30 year old feminist. "A gifted physicist and lesbian." A member of Susan's Conciousness-Raising Group.

Mark

A 17 year old girl, who comes to Susan's Conciousness- Raising group as an escape from her dysfunctional family.

Chris Boxer

  • Gave birth to daughter, Lucy Jane, at age 48, in 1999

Scoop's wife. "Deliberately classy, speaks with a very slight Southern accent." An illustrator for childrens' books.

A waiter that Peter is seeing. The first man he introduces to Heidi.

The first boy to ask Heidi to dance. She turns him down.

Other Plays

  • Uncommon Women and Others (1977)
  • Died January 30, 2006 from Lymphoma, at age 55

Clara

Elizabeth Banks

Zosia Mamet

  • Isn't It Romantic? (1983)

Molly

A protestor at the "Women in Art" Rally

April

Abby Elliott

Debbie

Ben Feldman

Ray

Talk Show Host

Reason for Casting

  • The Sisters Rosensweig (1992)

A woman Susan brings to Scoop's wedding.

A passionate, feminist, protestor.

An anesthesiologist, whom Peter ends up with.

Reason For Casting

She is able to play the younger characters. Her innocence as Shosh on Girls works well for Becky.

  • An American Daughter (1997)

Because I felt like it.

These characters, especially Fran and Debbie, are a bit... eccentric. She has proven many times that she can play a wide variety of crazy characters

Slightly older than the rest of the cast, so she is able to play the older characters, but is still be to pass for the same age for some characters.

  • Old Money (2000)

Fun Fact: Sarah Jessica Parker oiginated this role, but was replaced by her future co star,Cynthia Nixon, when the play moved to Broadway.

"One could argue that, like Heidi, Wendy Wasserstein was a 'concerned, intelligent good' woman who spent her career making sure her fellow females never felt completely stranded—as least not by their self-appointed playwright chronicler."

-Robert Simonson, Playbill

  • Psyche In Love (2004)
  • Welcome To My Rash (2004)
  • Third (2004)

Genre: Realistic Drama

Chicago, 1965

New York, 1982

New York, 1977

New York, 1986

New York, 1989

Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1970

A T.V. Studio

A High School Dance

Anteroom to Pierre Hotel Ballroom

The Plaza Hotel

An Empty Room with a Fireplace

A Church Basement

  • Heidi, Scoop, and Peter are all going to be on a talk show together, called "Hello, New York."
  • Heidi, Peter, Susan, and Molly, attend Scoop and Lisa's wedding.
  • Heidi, 22, is a graduate student at Yale.
  • Heidi and Scoop end up alone together. Scoop blames Heidi for the fact that this isn't their wedding.
  • She is in town visiting Susan for the week.
  • Heidi, 40, has moved back to New York.
  • Heidi gives a speech at a Luncheon for her Alma Mater
  • Denise, who works at the station, is very pregnant, and Scoop discusses his second child. Susan is a studio executive.
  • Scoop comes to visit her. They catch up.
  • Scoop tells her that he loves Lisa, but she isn't an A+ like Heidi, but he wouldn't want to come home to an A+
  • Susan brings her to her "Women's Conciousness-Raising Group", and introduces her to Jill and Fran. Becky is new to the group.
  • Scoop tells Heidi he loves her, and will always love her.
  • Heidi has a baby named Judy.
  • The women discuss feminism, family, and relationships. Heidi talks about her on and off relationship with Scoop.
  • April Lambert, the host, interviews them about the changes in their lives from the 60's to the 80's, their careers, and their families. She awkwardly talks to Heidi about her biological clock.
  • Scoop leaves for his first dance, but instead comes back to Heidi. They kiss, and dance together

Style

Pop Culture

  • The play ends with Heidi sitting on a rocking chair, singing You Send Me to Judy.

Historical Events

Style

Pop Culture

Historical Events

Featured Song: Respect

Style

Pop Culture

Historical Events

  • First Earth Day Celebrated

Aretha Franklin

Featured Song: Satisfaction

  • Apollo 13 Mission Abandoned
  • The Beatles break up

Featured Song: You Send Me

The Rolling Stones

  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leads civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery.
  • The New York City Blackout
  • Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin die of drug overdoses.
  • 4 Protesters are killed at Kent State University.

Sam Cooke

Music

Movies

  • The US returns the Panama Canal to Panama

Music

Movies

  • Malcolm X is shot.

Movies

Music

  • Let It Be is released.
  • Mary Poppins
  • My Fair Lady
  • The Sound of Music
  • Hello, Dolly!
  • Jimmy Carter is elected President
  • President Lyndon B. Johnson increases the number of troops in South Vietnam from 75,000-125,000
  • M*A*S*H
  • The Rolling Stones
  • The Beatles
  • Dusty Springfield
  • The Kinks
  • The Animals
  • Tom Jones
  • The Jackson Five's ABC and I Want You Back are released.
  • Rod Stewart
  • Stevie Wonder
  • The Eagles
  • The Beegees
  • Woodstock
  • Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
  • Rocky
  • A Star Is Born
  • Saturday Night Fever
  • King Kong
  • Annie Hall
  • The Voting Rights Act, which gave African Americans the right to vote, was passed.
  • Simon and Garfunkel release their final album together, Bridge Over Troubled Water.

1980

1970

1990

1960

Chicago, 1974

New York, 1984

New York, 1980

New York, 1987

Outside the Chicago Art Institute

Manchester, New Hampshire

1968

A Trendy Restaurant

  • Heidi, 26, working on her PhD in Art History.

A Childrens' Hospital Ward

Scoop and Lisa's Apartment

  • She is at a feminist protest of an "Age of Napoleon" exhibit with Debbie, Clara, and an unnamed woman.

A "McCarthy Mixer" Dance

  • Lisa's Baby Shower
  • Susan and Heidi, 35 meet to catch up. Susan is still a successful executive, and Heidi is writing. They are both still single.
  • Heidi,19, is an Art History major at Vassar.
  • Susan is now very close with Lisa, Denise, and Betsy
  • Peter suprises her at the rally. He has something important to tell her but she changes the subject.
  • She is campaigning for Eugene McCarthy
  • Heidi, 31, who has been living in London, arrives.
  • Heidi goes to tell Peter that she is moving to Minnesota in the morning, and to say goodbye.
  • Scoop approaches her, and asks if she is "Guarding the Chips"
  • The women catch up. Lisa apologizes that Scoop is out of town.
  • She tells him that she is no longer romantically involved with Scoop, but they are still sleeping together, and that Susan lives in a Womens' Health and Legal Collective in Montana.
  • Susan tells Heidi that Denise, who is now her assistant, is on her way. Denise arrives, and Susan offers Heidi a job, but she declines.
  • They have a heated debate about everything from politics, to music, to chip quality
  • When Lisa leaves the room, Heidi tells the other women that she saw Scoop at the John Lennon memorial with another woman.
  • She goes home with him.
  • They have lost touch, and Peter is angry that she didn't tell him sooner.
  • Peter comes out to Heidi. She doesn't want to hear it, but tries to be supportive.
  • Susan and Denise leave Heidi at the table, rush after Diane Keaton.

Style

Pop Culture

Historical Events

Featured Song: Take A Piece of My Heart

  • Peter introduces Heidi to Mark, a waiter that he is seeing. She turns away when they hug.
  • Martin Luther King Junior is shot

Janis Joplin and Big Brother and The Holding Company

Style

Pop Culture

Historical Events

Music

Movies

  • North Vietnam and Viet Cong troops launch the Tet offensive

Featured Song: Imagine

  • The Graduate
  • The Odd Couple
  • Rosemary's Baby
  • President Lyndon B. Johnson orders end to bombing in North Vietnam.

John Lennon

  • John Lennon is shot
  • The Rolling Stones
  • The Beatles
  • The Supremes
  • The Monkees
  • The Beach Boys
  • Pink Floyd

Style

Pop Culture

Historical Events

Movies

Music

  • Senator Robert Kennedy is shot.
  • Ronald Reagan is elected President.
  • Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
  • Superman II
  • Nine to Five
  • Richard Nixon resigns after the Watergate Scandal.
  • ABBA
  • AC/DC
  • Black Sabbath
  • Blondie
  • David Bowie
  • Gasoline shortage causes prices to rise.
  • The earliest form of word processor, which resembles a typewriter, is introduced in offices.

Music

Movies

  • ABBA
  • The Exorcist
  • Lucy, the Humanoid Skeleton, is discovered.
  • Blazing Saddles
  • The Beach Boys
  • The Godfather Part II
  • David Bowie
  • Carpenters
  • The Great Gatsby
  • Alice Cooper

Can We Do it at UT?

Keystone/Theme

YES!

  • Appropriate Age Range

Morality and Time Passing

"Three Sisters Playing Chess," 1555

Sofonisba Anguissola

Undated Self Portrait

Clara Peeters

  • Simple Technical Requirements
  • Good Roles For Both Females and Males
  • Flexible Cast Size
  • Themes Are Still Relevant Today

"We Both Must Fade", 1869

Lily Martin Spencer

Themes

  • Independence
  • Feminism

"Lady With A Bowl of Violets"

Lilla Cabot Perry

  • Defying Social Norms
  • Passage of Time

"Lady in Evening Dress," 1911 Lilla Cabot Perry

Interest

  • Unique format
  • Strong Female Characters
  • Relatable story and characters
  • Themes are still relevant today
  • Heidi, 16, arrives at the dance with Susan.
  • Susan is determined to dance with boys, but Heidi isn't interested.
  • Heidi is asked to dance by Chris Boxer, but she turns him down because she doesn't want to leave Susan. Susan is not happy.
  • Susan goes to dance with Chris, and Heidi sits down to read, when she is approached by Peter. She realizes that he is different from the other boys, and they have an intelligent conversation.
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