The Hello Girls

Casting

Grace Banker — Articulate and poised, with a core of steely strength that makes itself apparent as she grows into her role as leader.

Suzanne Prevot — From New York City. Feisty, sardonic, tough-talking. A close friend of Grace’s from AT&T.

Helen Hill — From Idaho. A typical small-town farm girl… Sweet, over-enthusiastic, wholesomely kooky and prone to nervous panic.

Bertha Hunt — Married to a Navy doctor who is also serving. Older, wiser, reliable – The Den Mother. Extremely knowledgeable about military matters.

Louise Lebreton — 18. Fearless, flirty, headstrong and often insubordinate. Born in France, she has family fighting with the French army.

Cpt. Joseph Riser — The Signal Corps officer who recruits and trains the women. A career army man, a stickler for rules and order, he is skeptical of the women’s presence in the army.

Lt. Ernest Wessen — Head of the recruiting center for the Signal Corps

Pvt. Eugene Matterson — An enlisted man who works closely with Lt. Riser.

Pvt. Robert Dempsey — A Signal Corps operator at the Paris Telephone Exchange

Gen. John Pershing — Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces. Hard, relentless, inflexible, with a deep sense of honor and American individualism and identity.

Casting Note:
With the exception of Capt. Riser and Gen. Pershing, the men all play a variety of supporting roles

Orchestral Information

9 Musicians

Piano/Conductor
Keyboard 2 / Accordion / Bells*
Bass
Drums
Guitar
Violin
Cello
Clarinet
Trumpet / Euphonium**

The original Off-Broadway production of THE HELLO GIRLS utilized a cast of actors who also played instruments. While the standard licensing version of THE HELLO GIRLS is written with a completely separate pit orchestra, directors are welcome to incorporate actor-musicians at their own discretion based on the abilities of their cast. (If you are interested in receiving materials that replicate the exact instrument/actor combinations of the original Off-Broadway production, please reach out to your TRW licensing representative.)

*Accordion and bells may be substituted by keyboard patches.
**The fingering for these instruments is the same.

Credits

THE HELLO GIRLS

Music and Lyrics by PETER MILLS

Book by PETER MILLS and CARA REICHEL

Reviews

“THRILLING… SMART, HUMAN and sardonically feminist, with a lively ragtime-and-jazz score… there is a palpable sense of filling in an important blank: showing an adventurous female presence in the war story we thought we knew… It boasts AN EXCELLENT CAST of actor-musicians who have a multitasking ease as they play the instruments scattered around Lianne Arnold’s clever, giant-pegboard set. A handsomely designed production, it also sounds TERRIFIC.”
—The New York Times