Day 5 of trying to build a Band Geeks Fandom
This is the last of our introduction trilogy! Once again, more info on Days 3 and 4, but it will be tagged for some other musicals whose fandoms I think should check this musical out. Today’s fun thing will be introductions to the characters! There’s only 10 members of the band, and 2 adults, so only about 12 characters in total. Lets get right into it
Elliot Goodman (Jared Gertner) - Tuba, Captain of the Beavers. Elliot is arguably the main character (with Laura) and one of the two most important guys in the show. He is an aspiring composer who wants the band to play his latest composition, Flight of the Tuba. Elliot is frequently overshadowed by his weatherman brother, Chip Goodman, and has fairly neglectful parents, so he wants nothing more than to impress everyone by making something of himself. He seeks this validation from both his title, being band captain, despite not really sacrificing or doing things for the band, and in his obsession with Nicole. He seems to want to date Nicole because she’s attractive and it will “win him points” and not because of her personality (because we can see in the song, Twirler Girl, he projects a “secret personality” onto her that is much nerdier and different from her stuck-up popular behavior). Nicole is his main motivation throughout the show tbh, that and being Jake’s no. 1 hater.
Laura Jane Kirk (Katie Klaus in the og cast, Lindsey Mendez on the album) - Flute. Laura is the other main character of Band Geeks, and arguably the most important. She is Elliot’s best friend and has a crush on him, and thus does whatever he tells her to do. She’s a bit of a people pleaser, and doesn’t truly understand how damn good she is. Her parents strongly want her to become a nurse, while she is pushed by Hornsby to go to the conservatory for flute, due to how good she is. Her arc is mostly abt confidence, and I wanna do an analysis of it so goddamn bad. I’d be remiss not to mention her connection to Jake though, as the two get very close throught the show, and she teaches him drums. You also see her take care of the band in other ways, like making color coded charts for all of them and risking suspension for them. She really deserves to be captain at the end, she carries the whole band.
Jake Fowler (Tommar Wilson in the og cast, Douglas Lyons on the album) - Drumline. Jake is the tritagonist of Band Geeks, and the one to kick off the whole show. He’s an ex-football star who was kicked out of his team/school after attacking another player, and has an extreme attitude problem. He is initially very standoffish and resents missing his big break, but becomes closer to everyone and really enjoys the band by the end of the show. Jake comes from a bad socio-economic background, and is extremely ashamed of how his parents turned out, thus not wanting to repeat their mistakes. His main goal is just to get out, and his Football scholarship was his ticket until the incident. He and Nicole date for a while before she breaks up with him.
Nicole Murray (Patti Murin) - Twirler. Nicole is the final piece of the love-square, and the most stereotypically hot girl in the band. It is said she is too weird to hang out with the cheerleaders, but she tries to emulate them. She is very driven and very stuck-up about it, feeling like everything has to be perfect, and if you can’t win, what’s the point? She really wants to go the Notre Dame, and it’s her main motivation throughout the show. She’s very shallow about her attraction to men, only liking athletes and dumping them (Jake) at the slightest chance it could make her look bad. Patti thinks she has more to her, but you should just watch the What Band Geeks is About video to hear abt that.
Spitz (F. Michael Haynie) - Trumpet. No last name, no real name, Spitz is very passionate about the trumpet. He’s kinda all over the place and very ADHD coded tbh, but always super proud to be a trumpet player. He’s also the horny bastard of the show (using that as a character archetype, not actually calling him that) and is constantly lusting over Nicole, although she brushes him off and he doesn’t seem that hurt by it. He is in a rivalry with Natalia throughout the show, which blossoms into a romance, and they’re actually pretty cute together. He's the silly to her serious.
Natalia Vosavich (Jacey Powers) - Trumpet. Natalia is a foreign exchange student from Braslovia, and is a premium trumpet player in their National Youth Orchestra. She’s probably overqualified for this band tbh. She speaks in slightly broken English, and carries on a lot of her cultural values and traditions, which she shows to the others. Spitz talks down to her bc of this, and bc of both their fucking egos and insistance they are so much better than the other, and she and him are at wits for most of the show until they get together.
Molly Winerman (Ruthie Ann Miles) - Clarinet. Molly is either a goth or an emo kid, depending on the production, and in the goodspeed version, she’s very clearly decora-coded. She’s very pessimistic and moody, with a general dislike towards everything. She does seem to be a sweetheart though, and is very excited about some of her band ideas.
Alvin Freeman (Nkrumah Gatling in the og cast, Jason Michael Snow on the album) - Honestly his instrument is kinda confusing, in the videos he seems to be a clarinet, but in the script he’s a sax player. Pick your poison ig. Alvin is Nicole’s gay best friend, and is mostly known for making inappropriate and pointed quips during the show, often accompanied by Hornsby’s “Alvin”, which I always imagine in a really dejected tone. Personally, I think he’s a little whiny on the album, so I always imagine him slightly less whiny and more sarcastic, but that’s just me.
Kyle Watson (Mike Millan) - Saxophone. Probably the quietest band member, Kyle’s just a gamer boy doing his own thing. He’s pretty much playing something or on electronics 24/7. Script says he’s goth/emo, but I’m not fully buying that tbh. Also, I’ll add this in hcs next post, but he and Alvin are totally dating.
Stewart Dixon (Matt Braver) - Clarinet. Stewart is the principal's son, and he really doesn’t have anything going for him. His parents are recently divorced, his mom is overbearing, he’s the youngest, the weakest, most bullied, and asthmatic. He’s really trying to break away from his mom. It’s going badly.
William Hornsby (Michael Winther in the og cast, Alex Gemignani on the album) - Ex Oboe, Band Director. Hornsby is kinda just a sad band teacher who wanted more for his life, and was continuously disappointed, and just settled. He is in many ways a parallel to Elliot, having big aspirations and trying to achieve them, but being stuck by others into the same position.
Gayle Dixon (Jill Abramotivitz). Stewart’s mom. Principle. Mrs. Dixon is arguably the villain of the show, but mostly due to circumstances. She is constantly forced to cut funding from the band and give it to the football team, because one is more popular. She also fusses over Stewart constantly, and definitely babies him too much, probably bc of the divorce. She cares, just not enough to make it worth it, yk? She also has a cut song and it fucking sucks ngl.
And that’s everyone! Next up will be identity and shipping hcs, and here is the link to Day 4 if you wanna check that out, you should, and Day 6 whenever I post that.
