CLARE - early 30s; belongs on a farm raising her own food but, because of her husband's some time music career, she is living in New York City. She is responsible, serious, deep thinking, and afraid to make the changes she knows she needs to make because she also knows she will lose everything.
KATE - early 20s, is a flat chested tomboy with a great sense of humor, a love for life, and a propensity for putting it all into words. She works as a waitress to pay for her acting and singing lessons - it is totally a means to an end but she gets swept up in it nonetheless - hoping for friendships with people she wants to understand.
CHARLENE - late 20s-early 30s, is a beauty in the prime of her life. She married an wealthy man who ended up in jail for extortion but not before Charlene had a baby by him. She is the waitress all the men ask for and while it's illegal to date customers, she does it discreetly and gets away with it. Her ex keeps tabs on her from jail - she is determined to get a new man in her life even if he's married.
DANUSHA - 20s, is single, pregnant, and way too spiritual for her own good. She comes from nothing and has nothing but her ideals. She is barely holding it together but is too proud to ask for help. She speaks the truth accidentally.
VICKY - late 20s-early 30s, is tough and really sad underneath. She resents raising her two kids on her own - feels really trapped. She is cronically late, lies, swears, and gets into fixes that require desperate measures to get out of. You definitely know when she's in the room.
RHONDA - 20s, is a waif with a heart of steel. She enjoys being in the power position and will manipulate whoever she needs to manipulate in order to get there. She is the cigarette girl so she moves freely throughout the club - has the best idea of the big picture. For Rhonda, taking advantage of people is sport.
EDIE - 18-21, is the new girl in town. She has lead a sheltered life somewhere in the midwest and has come to New York for a change. More than likely she will return home, marry her childhood sweetheart, and have a lot of kids. But for now she's seeing a side of life she's never seen before and fully intending to make the best of it.
CHEF - 40's-60's is French but he's lived in New York for a long time trying to make it in the restaurant business. The kitchen is his kingdom - you play by the rules. He will bend them for the girls who are beautiful. He has no tolerance for girls who don't pick up and order in a timely fashion. He will threaten girls with the cutlery if they don't do as he says. The Chef's nephew, Henri, works alongside him and, were he not a family member, the Chef would have fired him long ago.
HENRI - 20's-40s, is the Chef's nephew and an alcholic.
JESUS - 20's, is the busboy. He is Latin, learning English and at the beginning of making his way in the world. He has a good heart.
The waitresses are in their 20s and 30s and can be played by any ethnicity. The important thing to remember is these girls (except for Charlene who needs a day job) are not as beautiful as the Night Girls who serve cocktails, entertain in the club's speakeasy, and are paid to be glamorous. The Lunch Girls are strong - they have to be because they carry heavy trays of food up and down flights of stairs in spike heels. In their case, beauty follows function.
The chef is French and in the middle of his life.
His assistant, also French, is younger.
The busboy can be any ethnicity - the important point is that there are some language barriers between the waitresses and the men in the kitchen.