Author's Notes:
The inspiration for Daddy's Girl sprouted from two "old" seeds. The first was a talk show that reunited birth parents with the children they gave up for adoption decades earlier. I was moved by the beauty of those parent/child reunions, and that emotion stayed with me. Secondly, when I was 22, my wife gave birth to our daughter and immediately my wife had complications. In the hospital, I held our baby girl in my arms and I was overwhelmed with love, but also with the fear of the possibility of having to raise my baby girl without a mother. These feelings were the basis for Benard's choice. The love of his life had given him a baby, a little girl whom they looked forward to becoming the center of his and Maudie's world. Obviously, as in real life, things don't always go as planned.
The inspiration for Daddy's Girl sprouted from two "old" seeds. The first was a talk show that reunited birth parents with the children they gave up for adoption decades earlier. I was moved by the beauty of those parent/child reunions, and that emotion stayed with me. Secondly, when I was 22, my wife gave birth to our daughter and immediately my wife had complications. In the hospital, I held our baby girl in my arms and I was overwhelmed with love, but also with the fear of the possibility of having to raise my baby girl without a mother. These feelings were the basis for Benard's choice. The love of his life had given him a baby, a little girl whom they looked forward to becoming the center of his and Maudie's world. Obviously, as in real life, things don't always go as planned.
Daddy's Girl
Cast of Characters (5 Men, 8 Women)
Cast of Characters (5 Men, 8 Women)
Benard (M): Fifty year-old cook and proprietor of Maudie's Diner. A short-tempered, grouchy man, but underneath his harsh exterior he is a kind, caring person. (384 lines) Bob (M): Known as "Shirtless Bob", he is a regular customer of the diner. He's slightly argumentative, but generally compliant with the "no shoes, no shirt, no service" rule. In his 40's give or take 10 years. (42 lines) Walter (M): Late 20's to early 30's. A PHD candidate, he is a stereotypical professional student-type: glasses, simple hair cut, never without a textbook. He's intelligent and articulate except when he tries to speak to Betsy. (136 lines) Maudie (F): In her 20's, she is Benard's deceased wife, and has for 25 years hung as a "portrait" on the center of the upstage wall. A little feisty with some "blonde" traits, she enjoys goading and lecturing her husband. (119 lines) Betsy (F): A cheerful, hardworking, twenty year-old simple waitress, but lacks confidence. She's a little dowdy and disheveled, but loyal and eager to please her boss. (192 lines) Michael (M): He's an angel with a dry sense of humor. A mischievous type who likes to dangle the proverbial carrot. He can be any age. (95 lines) | Darlynn (F): A sweet, bubbly woman who doesn't hesitate to call things like she sees them. In here late 40's to early 50's. For 25 years, she's tried to get Benard to the altar, but hasn't got him to first base yet. Refusing to accept defeat, she constantly tries to get his attention by varying her attire daily sometimes hourly. (153 lines)
E. L. (F): In her 20's, she is a classy, but cold, career-centered woman, who oozes with conceit and confidence. A writer of local notoriety, she has her own regular column in the Kansas City Star newspaper. (167 lines) Alex (M): Late 20's to 30's, he is a confident, likeable guy with a long resume of ex-girlfriends, one of whom is E.L. who has turned him into a "yes-man". (129 lines) Daisy (F): A sweet, but somewhat daffy old lady nearly joined at the hip with her best friend, Violet. They are like yin and yang only geritol style. Each rarely speaks a complete sentence without the other one to finish it. (74 lines) Violet (F): A sweet, delightful old lady, but a little less patient than her friend, Daisy. (79 lines) Lizzy (F): In her 20's, she is an obedient, well-Mannered mouse of a girl, but with a unique split personality. When hidden behind her glasses she is timid and meek. But when her glasses come off, she is a dazzling one-woman stage show. (59 lines) Big Earl Ella (F): Mid 40's. A motorcycle mama complete with tattoos, body piercings and wildly colored hair, she is Lizzy's mother. She's loud and intimidating, but beneath her leather and chains exterior, she is a diamond in the rough - well, not really! (148 lines) |