Characters by decade
Characters from 1920s and 1930s musicals
Before Oklahoma!, Broadway musicals were mostly revues and musical comedies built around star turns and hit songs. Show Boat (1927) was the great exception, a musical with a serious story, and Porgy and Bess followed in 1935.
Below are the characters in our library from shows that first opened on Broadway in the 1920s and 1930s, in order of premiere. Tap any name for the full character guide.
15 characters on this list.
- Cap'n Andy HawksShow Boat (1927) · SupportingCap'n Andy Hawks is the genial owner and captain of the Cotton Blossom showboat in Show Boat, the 1927 Jerome Kern musical…
- Gaylord RavenalShow Boat (1927) · LeadGaylord Ravenal is the charming riverboat gambler whose romance with Magnolia Hawks drives much of the story in Show Boat…
- JoeShow Boat (1927) · SupportingJoe is a dockworker aboard the Cotton Blossom in Show Boat, the 1927 Jerome Kern musical, and one of the show's most soulful voices of quiet wisdom.
- Julie La VerneShow Boat (1927) · SupportingJulie La Verne is the star performer of the Cotton Blossom showboat in Show Boat, the landmark 1927 musical by Jerome Kern.
- Magnolia HawksShow Boat (1927) · LeadMagnolia Hawks is the heroine of Show Boat, the landmark 1927 musical that follows her life and loves aboard a Mississippi River showboat over…
- Billy CrockerAnything Goes (1934) · LeadBilly Crocker is a lead character in Anything Goes, Cole Porter's 1934 shipboard musical comedy.
- Hope HarcourtAnything Goes (1934) · SupportingHope Harcourt is a supporting character in Anything Goes, Cole Porter's 1934 shipboard musical comedy.
- Lord Evelyn OakleighAnything Goes (1934) · SupportingLord Evelyn Oakleigh is a comic supporting character in Anything Goes, Cole Porter's 1934 shipboard musical comedy.
- Moonface MartinAnything Goes (1934) · SupportingMoonface Martin is a comic supporting character in Anything Goes, Cole Porter's 1934 shipboard musical comedy.
- Reno SweeneyAnything Goes (1934) · LeadReno Sweeney is the lead role of Anything Goes, Cole Porter's 1934 shipboard musical comedy.
- BessPorgy and Bess (1935) · LeadBess is the emotionally complicated heroine of Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin's 1935 opera set among the residents of Catfish Row in Charleston…
- ClaraPorgy and Bess (1935) · SupportingClara is a young mother among the residents of Catfish Row in Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin's 1935 opera.
- CrownPorgy and Bess (1935) · SupportingCrown is the imposing, dangerous figure looming over Bess's past in Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin's 1935 opera.
- PorgyPorgy and Bess (1935) · LeadPorgy is the title character of Porgy and Bess, a disabled beggar in Catfish Row whose love for Bess anchors one of the most significant works in…
- Sportin' LifePorgy and Bess (1935) · SupportingSportin' Life is the streetwise, magnetic dealer of temptation in Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin's 1935 opera set in Catfish Row.