Specifically for @lydiavalentino. This is the cast list that accompanies my Schmigadoon! Season Three pitch. I’ll include actors, character names and character descriptions so that you can get an idea of what I’m going for :).
Cecily Strong - Melissa Gimble:
Melissa is the same as she always is, kind, funny, a big fan of musicals, but the stress of parenting two hyperactive twins is starting to wear her out, and she’s less willing to join in with Schmigadoon shenanigans than usual, and she may yell at this season’s leprechaun when he eventually appears for putting her children in danger. Also, is a forbidden romance with a stranger who’s not so unfamiliar in the cards? Melissa is faithful to Josh, but old lovers and crushes have a certain way of getting to you…
Keegan-Micheal Key - Josh Skinner:
Again, Josh is the same as he always is, except he too is stressed out by raising twins and his teaching position, and he’s developed a much stronger interest in musicals that he, along with his wife, tries to pass down to his children. In my hypothetical third season, his reaction to the newest version of Schmigadoon (the ‘Schmoods’ and surrounding French district) is a lot like Melissa’s reaction to Schmigadoon in Season One, because this is the period of musicals he is most familiar with and he gets so excited whenever he spots a reference. Is he a cool dad? Well… he certainly has a thing or two to learn from a few Schmigadoonians, but he and his kids get along great (even if he is a little overprotective at times).
Dove Cameron - The Princess:
That isn’t a placeholder. That’s the character’s name. Think of Rapunzel from Into The Woods, but combine her with Cosette from Les Mis and Christine from Phantom of the Opera. She’s your typical ingenue at the start of the season, sheltered from the world by her adoptive mother (we’ll get to her) and dreaming of romance. But as the season progresses, she (with a little encouragement from Melissa) begins to break out of her shell and pursue romance with mysterious French Schmigadoonians (oh, the scandal of it all!).
Aaron Tveit - The Prince:
The Prince is a more villainous character, he falls in love with The Princess and is convinced that they are destined to be together (think of the two princes from Into The Woods with Marius from Les Mis levels of pining) and refuses to take no for an answer. This would be a sort of dark reimagining of Jenny and Topher’s romance from Season Two, and Melissa would point this out at one point (but nobody sees the comparison except for her). Does he find romance by the end? Perhaps, but that is yet to be decided.
Alan Cumming - The Wolf:
As you can see, a lot of character names are symbolic (a lot like Into The Woods). At the beginning of the season, Josh and Melissa are convinced that he’s the one who lured their children away (hey, they’ve seen Into The Woods and The Wolf looks VERY similar to the wolf that ate Little Red Riding Hood in that musical, they don’t want to take chances) but it’s a red herring, and the ‘sneaking around’ they catch him doing is merely to provide for his pup, Clawsette (Little Cosette from Les Mis, slightly inspired by the SNL Diner Lobster Sketch with the lobsters in terms of naming). His character will help to teach lessons about parenting to Josh and Melissa via a song, and the character may be French, with subtle references to Duly Blight and Mayor Menlove because of course there will be.
Kristen Chenoweth - The Witch:
What can I say? She’s the witch from Into The Woods, I just wanted to allow Dove Cameron and Kristen Chenoweth to play mother and daughter again. She would also teach Josh and Melissa about parenting in a VERY Children Will Listen inspired song.
Jane Krakowski: Leader:
Leader of the troupe of children that lures Josh and Melissa’s twins into the woods. She’s seemingly kind at first (she’s inspired by the Narrator from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat after all) but she soon reveals a sinister dark side reminiscent of Bill Sykes from Oliver, and she makes the children under her employ carry out her dirty work (crime such as theft).
Patrick Page - The Narrator:
The Narrator from Into The Woods, but more sinister. There’s a running gag where Josh and Melissa (big Into The Woods fans) continuously try to sacrifice him to whatever monster or rival is onscreen, thinking that that will help them to ‘reclaim their own stories’ like it did for the characters in Into The Woods. He gets more songs that show off his awesome deep voice, and he isn’t employed by the leprechauns. He’s their father. That would extend the parenting theme I’m trying to build and show the sometimes strained relationships between parents and children.
Martin Short - All Three Leprechauns:
He’s back as the leprechauns! This season’s new addition is Johnathan, a very Rent inspired character who may have a striped scarf. And yes, he would have a line paying homage to that show, such as ‘sorry my land isn’t as flashy as my brothers’, I’m struggling to pay rent’. It’s stupid, I know, but it brings me joy.
Tituss Burgess - Unsure:
I want him to be in this, but I’m not sure HOW. He’s a phenomenal actor though, so I want him to at least have a cameo as a French villager (Ratatouille the Musical, anyone?).
Fred Armisen - Unsure:
He’s in the same boat as Tituss for me, but I would perhaps cast him as Alan Cumming’s character’s ‘mate’ or something so that Layton x Menlove could live on in a way.
Ann Harada - Leader of the Rats:
Somebody had to do it. She’s basically Grizzabella from Cats as a rat, and when the characters help out in the final episode, she leads the charge. This is no slight against Ann Harada, she’s great, but I thought it would be fun if she could have a song (or a brief snippet of a song that keeps getting cut off as a running gag similar to ‘I’ll drink to that’ lady from last season) inspired by Memory from Cats.
Jaime Camil - The Phantom:
No prizes for guessing which 1980s musical inspired this character. Melissa has a big crush on the Phantom of the Opera, and she may have a brief romance with this character (Baker’s Wife from Into The Woods all over again) but she gets over herself and sets him up with The Princess, seeing her as a version of Christine, and that it would be the ultimate fan service to set the two up together in order to ‘fix the ending’ of Phantom.
Ariana Debose - Francine:
Fantine from Les Mis, but she doesn’t die. And she has a son unlike Fantine. (Mason, played by the boy who played Carson in Season One). She helps to teach parenting lessons due to her dedication to her son. By the end of the season, she may have a romance with The Princess, but I’m currently undecided.
The Twins - Casting Unclear:
The twins are about nine or ten, and they’re scrappy and adventurous. They love musicals like their parents, but because this is their coming of age story (Into The Woods, remember) they will go from naive to wise by the end of the season, after overthrowing a powerful dictator, of course…
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"Oh, the sun will rise in the mornin'
Or so I'm told. But who knows?
You could win a million bucks in the mornin'
And then get rolled by a mob of stinkin' hobos
Good news, you can't lose
when you tell Mr Blues that you choose to keep goin'
Don't ever stop! We'll just keep on moving forward
Even if we don't know what we're moving toward
They say life's too short but they're wrong
Its so long! Sometimes the only way to go
Is to just go on
Keep a smile in your pocket while the wolf is ra-ta-tatin' on the door
Just lock it tight
Keep a dream in your heart and you'll never ever want for more
Unless you're in a knife fight
Chin high, spit in the eye
Of the folks who can't stop laughing at the stupid things you've done
Don't ever stop, even though your heart is breaking
Don't look over your shoulder at the love you've left behind
They say life's too short but they're wrong
It's so long! Sometimes the only way to go
Is to just go on"
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