AUSTIN "BUDDY" BEDFORD - An American man in his late forties of great charm and wit with a boyish, playful personality and a romantic sensibility. He plays popular piano extremely well and sings in an unspectacular-but pleasant voice.
TRACY WHEATON - An appealing woman of twenty-eight with a casual, forthright manner that disguises a fiercely competitive nature. Intensely practical, she is ambitious, stubborn and can be combative but these qualities are balanced with great warmth and humor. She speaks with an American accent spiced with a slight New York cadence.
PRUNELLA SOMERSET - Tracy's mother. A woman of forty-six, once beautiful and although still attractive, she has stopped trying to enhance her appearance in recent years and when we first meet her, her uncoordinated style of dressing makes her appearance slightly bizarre. A recluse since her husband died, her personality is endearing but often borders on the eccentric. Despite the difference in age her face bears a remarkable similarity to that of her daughter. Although she has lived in the United
States for some twenty years, she has retained every vestige of her British accent.
OLIVER PEMBERTON - A vague, tweedy, likable dreamer in his fifties, who is Prunella's devoted friend and publisher. Although American, his style of dress and manner is British.
The actor playing Austin "Buddy" Bedford should be able to sing popular songs in an appealing voice but it is not absolutely necessary for him to also play the piano. The effect of Buddy playing the piano can be achieved by concealing another piano and a trained pianist offstage(preferably on the other side of a flat close to the onstage
piano) who will provide the music required. The songs selected should subtly act as a counterpoint or comment upon the action taking place on the stage.