| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Character name, organized by primary social scene | Already cast to participant | That gender and sex thing | Description | Special notes about this character | Which 4th of July party |
2 | If this character has already been assigned to a participant for JaLL USA 2017 | (The person who plays this characters should be comfortable dealing closely with these themes or actions. Other characters can participate in performances or interact with these themes, but it is not required for those not mentioned here.) | "Mr. T's Party" is the gay scene party. Almost all of the characters who are guests of this party are gay men. "Pen's Guests" is the lesbian scene party. Almost all of the characters who belong to this party are lesbian women. The "Saratoga Friends" are the young cancer survivors representing different aspects of "alternative America." Most of the characters who belong to this party are straight or bisexual women and men. | |||
3 | Pink Dollars | “Pink dollars” isn’t a formally organized group or club, just a network of some of the gay people in New York with money and influence. They invite each other to parties and social happenings, and help each other with connections and favors. It’s all very discreet of course, except for the opulent spending habits and the amount of consumed champagne. | ||||
4 | Mr. T (Terrence Thurlow) | YES | gay man | The charismatic, rich, fun-loving, and shameless host of the party. Owner of the T-Buzz advertising agency. | Host of Mr. T's Party | |
5 | Sinclair Everett | YES | man, identifies as heterosexual in public and gay in private | Son of a senator from an old Democrat family who is running for congress and living a secret double life. Has a passion for drag shows and musicals. | Mr. T's Party | |
6 | Bruce | YES | gay man | Yuppie; this is his age. Rags to riches story. High on testosterone, money, and the high life of the city. | Mr. T's Party | |
7 | Katherine | YES | lesbian woman | Editor of The City section in the New York Times. For Katherine there are few things in life so far that can't be solved by making a five-step plan or collecting favors from the right contacts. | Pen's guests | |
8 | Artie | gay man | Katherine's younger brother and the whiz kid of New York's radio stations with his very own talk show. Also a volunteer counselor at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. | Mr. T's Party | ||
9 | Ruben | YES | gay man | The heir of a technology company moving into the new area of mobile phones. Generous with his friends but also has a tendency of wanting to own those close to him. | Mr. T's Party | |
10 | Ike | YES | gay man (who is occasionally attracted to women) | Struggles with being both a bit shy and having a strong need for finding his own independent place in the world. Lives with his wealthy boyfriend Ruben | Mr. T's Party | |
11 | ||||||
12 | Cruisers Club | Cruisers Club is a gay leather and fetish club. It’s run more like a volunteer organization or MC club than a commercial bar or disco. Only men are allowed in the club, and only members and guests who arrive with members are admitted. The members are a mixture of gay men who are into dressing in leather, bondage, S&M or “traditionally masculine” aesthetics in general (like lumberjacks). There are dedicated rooms in the club for sex, but a lot of the members spend more time hanging out in the bar socializing with old friends. | ||||
13 | Steven | YES | gay man | The leader of Cruisers Club. An emotionally mature left-wing university lecturer with a working-class background | Part of the leather and bondage scene | Mr. T's Party |
14 | Andrew | YES | gay man | The emotional core of Mr. T's inner circle and of the Cruisers Club. Tends to become everyone's trusted friend | Part of the leather and bondage scene | Mr. T's Party |
15 | Jimmy | YES | gay man | Former addict turned ambassador for alternative healthy living. Lives and loves with a close knit group of friends. | Part of the leather and bondage scene | Mr. T's Party |
16 | Walter | YES | gay man (who used to date women) | Psychologist recovering from an emotional breakdown of his own. | Part of the leather and bondage scene | Mr. T's Party |
17 | Chain | YES | gay man (but open to exploring his sexuality) | Chain wants to become rich, find true love, and fuck all the rich and beautiful men in New York, all at the same time. Go-go dancer and porn model | Should perform a strip-tease / go-go dance; part of the leather and bondage scene | Mr. T's Party |
18 | Simon | YES | gay man | Synth player in the band Urban Renaissance. Has an instinctive need to rebel against authority. Never afraid, but his own emotions confuse him. New member of Cruiser's Club | Should lip-sync on stage with the band; part of the leather and bondage scene | Mr. T's Party |
19 | ||||||
20 | Club Diamond | Club Diamond is a drag show club owned and managed by Nate. It’s primarily a gay venue for those who like to dress up in drag themselves and those that fancy those that do. But straight people who enjoy drag shows come here too, in particular women on “girl's night out.” In addition to its professional performers, Club Diamond holds regular amateur nights. At the larp itself Nate will host an open stage, so think about whether your character would like to participate. (Remember, you don’t have to sing, drag queens generally lip-sync to popular “Diva songs”) | ||||
21 | Nate "The Queen of Manhattan" | YES | gay man and drag queen | Owner of Club Diamond. Used to life breaking apart and having to build something new from the ashes. | Performs as drag queen each night | Mr. T's Party |
22 | Daniel "Lady Verona" | YES | gay man and drag queen | The star of Club Diamond. He moves around the city becoming the most important person in people's life. But then one day he's gone. Maybe he'll come back, maybe he won't. | Performs as drag queen each night | Mr. T's Party |
23 | Fernando | YES | gay man | Bartender at Club Diamond. Does not pretend to be straight. Never could do it, and never wanted to try. One of the most visible gay activists in the city. Confrontational and passionate. | Mr. T's Party | |
24 | Marcus | YES | gay man | Estranged from his conservative Christian family. Political activist. Temperamental. And a passionate amateur drag performer | Should perform as drag queen | Mr. T's Party |
25 | Reginald | YES | gay man | A dancer who met his true love Jerrod at last year's party. Both attention-seeking and genuinely empathetic with other people. The type that has meaningful conversations with strangers on the street. | Should perform a dance (of any style) | Mr. T's Party |
26 | Trevor | YES | gay man | Struggling young actor vacillating between euphoria and despair. Throws himself hard at the city and it's people - losing control of his own actions and the situations he ends up in. | Mr. T's Party | |
27 | Diane | YES | heterosexual woman | A make-up artist for the extravagant and the famous, Diane has taken it upon herself not to be outdone in outrageousness by any of the many drag queens she knows and loves. | Mr. T's Party | |
28 | Francis | gay man | An established dancer and choreographer on Broadway. Also a volunteer counselor at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. In a relationship with Tony, the record store owner. | Should perform a dance (of any style) | Mr. T's Party | |
29 | ||||||
30 | The Cubby Hole | Even in a large city like New York there aren’t many lesbian bars or clubs. This intimate bar in the Village is one of the staples of lesbian life in New York. It is a friendly place with a neighborhood pub feel where the owners are well-updated on the intricacies of the love entanglements of their regular guests. Male friends are also allowed entrance here as long as they behave and don’t hit on the women. Some up-and-coming celebrities, such as Madonna, and have also recently begun to stop by on occasion, probably to catch a bit of that lesbian chic the Village Voice is claiming to be the recent trend. | ||||
31 | Pen | YES | lesbian woman | Mr. T's secretary and friend. Cool-headed power dresser. Loves life on full speed and being in control at the wheel. | Host of Pen's guests | |
32 | Charlotte | YES | lesbian woman | Mr. T's lawyer. More quiet and composed than most people at the party. | Pen's guests | |
33 | Kimberly | woman, identifies as lesbian in public and bisexual in private | Photographer. Uncompromising extrovert, individualist, and feminist making her own rules for how life should be. Charlotte's girlfriend | Should take photos | Pen's guests | |
34 | Morgan | YES | lesbian woman | Morgan is the radical young feminist intellectual who is good at creating drama among friends and lovers. She has a certain type of magnetism that keeps others fascinated even when they are angry with her. | Pen's guests | |
35 | Dawn | YES | lesbian woman | Dawn is the young Butch who escaped the religious sect she grew up in. Works as stage hand at an Off-Broadway theatre | Pen's guests | |
36 | Dutch (Douglas) | heterosexual man | Dutch is the “Lesbro” straight boy who hangs out with the lesbians. Occasional backpacker and wannabe adventurer. | Pen's guests | ||
37 | Barbara | YES | lesbian woman | Founder of the Amazons, a feminist health movement. A natural networker and well-known pillar of New York's lesbian scene. | Cancer survivor | Saratoga friends |
38 | Sam | YES | lesbian woman | The irresistible bad butch girl you can't help but fall in love with. Notorious in the lesbian scene for her highly public fights and jealousy dramas. | Cancer survivor; drug (alcohol) user | Saratoga friends |
39 | ||||||
40 | The Literary Circle | The Literary Salon is a series of private regular gatherings in the home of the famous poet Abner and his boyfriend Eli. The discussions can get loud and it’s not an ideal to soften your arguments among this crowd. Attendance at these gatherings is by invitation only. | ||||
41 | Abner Finkel | YES | gay man | Nihilistic poet whose favorite word is "Dionysian." Motto: "Deconstruct literature, deconstruct life, deconstruct relationships." | Should recite poetry | Mr. T's Party |
42 | Eli | YES | man, identifies as gay in public and bisexual in private | Intellectual hot-shot who loves the envy caused by being the youngest PhD student at the university. Balances sarcasm with wit and tenderness. | Mr. T's Party | |
43 | Jerrod | YES | gay man | An aspiring author who met his true love at last year's party. A bit torn between the influence of his idealistic boyfriend Reginald and the iconclastic intellectual guru Abner. | Should perform as drag queen on the first night | Mr. T's Party |
44 | Santiago | YES | lesbian woman | Visual artist originally from a prominent family in Puerto Rico. She is well read and has strong opinions on politics and most other aspects of life. Motto: "Consistency is overrated." Pen's girlfriend | Pen's guests | |
45 | Nick | YES | gay transgender man | The editor of a small independent gay magazine. Nick is an intellectual who was born in the Soviet Union. | Mr. T's Party | |
46 | Rain | YES | gay man | Guitarist in the band Urban Renaissance. The singer Skye's serious and melancholic elder brother. A recent invitee to the the Literary Salon | Should lip-sync on stage with the band | Mr. T's Party |
47 | ||||||
48 | Studio 54 | Studio 54 was probably the most prestigious discotheque in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is the favorite hangout place for many of New York’s celebrities and was known for its strict and erratic doormen. The club is frequented by straights, gays, and drag queens alike and it is notorious for its hedonism; the balconies are known for sexual encounters, and the sale and use of drugs takes place quite openly. | ||||
49 | Sorrento | YES | gay man | The notorious party fixer at Studio 54. He is eccentric, chaotic, and an extrovert. | Mr. T's Party | |
50 | Enrique | YES | gay man | This young bartender/medical student tries to do and be everything at once. It's not a question whether things will crash, it's just a question of when and how. | Drug user | Mr. T's Party |
51 | Leon | YES | gay man | He was one of the biggest disco stars of the 70s but his career is now struggling. | Should lip-sync on stage | Mr. T's Party |
52 | Diego | YES | gay man (who is occassionally attracted to women) | Leon's son. Gets a kick out of being an object of desire to many and already being a regular at the hottest clubs in town. Ambitious, ambivalent, and naive. | Mr. T's Party | |
53 | Skye | YES | androgynous bisexual man, frequently mistaken as gay | The narcisistic singer in the New Romantics-style band Urban Renaissance. He keeps them guessing, ever changing, ever loved, ever lonely. | Should lip-sync on stage with the band | Mr. T's Party |
54 | Kim | heterosexual woman | One of the informal leaders of Saratoga. She is the spirit of the 80s personified. Project manager for hire; life and career planning advisor | Cancer survivor | Saratoga friends | |
55 | Chantelle | heterosexual woman (but open to exploring her sexuality) | An energetic, fun, and self-centered woman with ambitions to become the next great pop star with her new HI-NRG single | Should lip-sync on stage; cancer survivor | Saratoga friends | |
56 | Sterling | heterosexual man (but open to exploring his sexuality) | Chantelle's producer and husband. Socially a bit reserved with a strong passion for music and a recent interest in alternative spirituality. | Saratgoa friends | ||
57 | Tony | YES | gay man | The owner of the small but well stocked Tony's Records in Greenwich Village. He has been asked to play music for the party. Also a volunteer counselor at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. In a relationship with the dancer Francis. | Is the DJ of the party each night. (Playlists are provided by organizers) | Mr. T's Party |
58 | ||||||
59 | Spirituals | Alternative spiritualities have existed for a long time in the US, but the late 60s and 70s was when it truly started to spread in popular culture and among young people within the hippy movements. It’s often characterized by syncretism, mixing concepts and practices from different traditions and adapted in a way that gives resonance in a modern and individualistic American setting. The 80s are characterized by increasing opportunities for making money and thus an increasing commercialization of various forms of alternative practices. This is also an age where self-help books gain popularity, sometimes mixed with or inspired by ideas from New Age and alternative spiritualities. The characters in this group are all involved in finding their own spiritual path, either as teacher or guru or as as someone joining one or more types of alternative workshops. | / | |||
60 | Joani | YES | heterosexual woman | One of the informal leaders of Saratoga and one of the leading tantric gurus in America. Wife of Kohana. | Cancer survivor | Saratoga friends |
61 | Kohana | heterosexual man | One of the informal leaders of Saratoga and husband of Joani. Masculinity guru who strives to both fully embrace his masculinity and to break with the destructive patriarchy. | Cancer survivor | Saratoga friends | |
62 | Holly | bisexual woman | Member of the Indigo House co-housing family. A modern day priestess of Dionysus, in her home there is enough for everyone – sex, wine, food, passion, and drama. | Cancer survivor | Saratoga friends | |
63 | Katie | bisexual woman | Member of the Indigo House co-housing family. The ideologist of the co-housing movement and their particular agreement on polyfidelity. Worships the Goddess. | Saratoga friends | ||
64 | Wallace | heterosexual man (but open to exploring his sexuality) | Member of the Indigo House co-housing family. Owns an art gallery and is a difficult person to ignore. For the past year, the entire Indigo House has been involved in the quest for Wallace's potency which mysteriously seems to have disappeared. | Cancer survivor | Saratoga friends | |
65 | Tomasz | YES | heterosexual man | Everyone's friend, slacker, and jack of all trades who (according to others) should soon find out what he wants to do with his life. Currently in a (probably doomed) relationship with the strange girl Lizzie. | Cancer survivor, drug user | Saratoga friends |
66 | Rosemary | YES | lesbian woman | Rosemary is an anthropology student who is into alternative spirituality and is a wannabe feminist occultist . | Pen's guests | |
67 | ||||||
68 | The L Club (Lifestylers) | “Living the lifestyle” is a common expression among swingers, people who are part of the subculture of swinger's clubs and partner swapping. Quite a few of the Saratoga friends have interpreted their vow to celebrate life through living out their sexual fantasies. Lawrence owns and manages a swinger’s club in Brooklyn that has different themed nights, and many of his friends are current or past guests at some of these nights. The level of sexual activity with people other than your partner can vary a lot. Some people come to the club to swap partners or find a third person for the night, while others prefer to just have sex with their regular partner in a semi-public setting. | ||||
69 | Lawrence | YES | heterosexual man | Calls his life "a pleasurable chaos." Has some problems keeping appointments, jobs, and girlfriends. Owner and manager of the L Club | Saratoga friends | |
70 | Beatrice | heterosexual woman (but open to exploring her sexuality) | Last year she had to return to chemo again. Is the cancer finally gone now? Writing a self-help book. Empathetic, but also tends to know what's best for other people. Finds outlet for her frustrations at the swingers club | Cancer survivor | Saratoga friends | |
71 | Harvey | bisexual man | Member of the Indigo House co-housing family. A somewhat neurotic culture journalist seeking to live out his bisexuality. | Saratoga friends | ||
72 | Evelyn | YES | heterosexual woman | A burning idealist and cynic at the same time. She is a medical doctor working on projects in Africa. Disciplined worker who thinks the best way to wind down is sex with no attachments. | Cancer survivor | Saratoga friends |
73 | Max | YES | heterosexual man (but open to exploring his sexuality) | Some guys just got it. It doesn't have to be elegant, it doesn't have to be refined. If you got it you get sex with women when you want to. Max is such a guy without being a slick player or having the looks of a heartthrob. | Saratoga friends | |
74 | Lester | YES | heterosexual man (who sometimes has sex with men) | Stock broker and "the sensitive yuppie." Married to Gwen and an active practioner of S&M (submissive). | Cancer survivor, part of the leather and bondage scene | Saratoga friends |
75 | Gwen | YES | heterosexual woman | Not one of the original Saratoga cancer survivors but she has been part of their group for many years through her marriage to Lester. Active practioner of S&M (submissive). Talks freely about sensitive subjects. | Part of the leather and bondage scene | Saratoga friends |
76 | Mickey | YES | bisexual man | Art student and bisexual S&M master. He recently moved in with married couple Lester and Gwen. | Part of the leather and bondage scene | Saratoga friends |
77 | ||||||
78 | The Brooklyn Book Cafe | The Brooklyn Book Café is a gathering place for people active in the peace movement. It often hosts political debates and intimate concerts where Mary Lou is among the regular performers. The American peace movement grew strong during the Vietnam War as more and more people started questioning the reasons and costs of waging war there for more than a decade. In the early 80s the main focus of the peace movement is the threat of nuclear war and the American government’s support of military dictatorships in Latin America. Peace organizations stage marches, vigils, and debates on a regular basis. Conservative Americans often criticize them for being “unpatriotic.” | ||||
79 | Mary Lou | YES | heterosexual woman | Up and coming singer/songwriter with a complicated relationship with Max and Lawrence, the fathers of her two sons | Should lip-sync on stage; cancer survivor | Saratoga friends |
80 | Lizzie | woman who is in love with a man | She hates it when she feels shy, and goes over the top to disprove it. Her social timing is often off. Hopelessly in love with her boyfriend's best (gay) friend. | Cancer survivor | Saratoga friends | |
81 | Claire | YES | lesbian woman (who used to date men) | Former model turned organizer for labor unions and the Democratic party. Barbara's girlfriend. Not one of the original Saratoga group, but also a survivor of breast cancer. | Cancer survivor | Saratoga friends |
82 | Beverly | heterosexual woman | Member of the Indigo House co-housing family. Has a passion for photo journalism that she wants to develop. She longs for pleasure but has problems really finding it in her life. | Should take photos; cancer survivor | Saratoga friends | |
83 | Allison | bisexual woman | Member of the Indigo House co-housing family. Works in Wallace's art gallery. Wants everyone to be friends and to do what she wants when she wants to. Dosn't identify as lesbian but is primarily interested in women. | Saratoga friends | ||
84 | Dennis | heterosexual man | Possible new member of the Indigo House co-housing family. Not one of the original Saratoga group. A former Vietnam veteran turned peace activist. | Saratoga friends | ||
85 | ||||||
86 | New Kid in Town | Bret isn't part of a scene yet. | ||||
87 | Bret | YES | gay man | New boy in town who has just come to New York. Eager to experience life, today – right now! | Mr. T's party |