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Theatre Crew
Callie Marin
It's one thing to dream it, it's another thing to build it.
The protagonist. An energetic 7th Grade girl with a passion for theatre.- All-Loving Heroine: Along with Liz, she's probably the nicest character in the story, easily befriending and becoming a pillar of support for Jesse and Justin. She's kindhearted towards all her friends, evenMatt and Greg (although she's not above trying to make the latter jealous). She only really loses her temper once in the story, when Jesse stands her up at the dance. Notably, she apologizes before he officially comes out as gay, showing her empathy.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Jesse standing her up at the dance pisses her off. Also, Greg trying to go steady with her after ignoring her advances and treating her like dirt throughout the story leads her to angrily and tiredly stop him from kissing her and walk home.
- Betty and Veronica: She is the Archie to the socially awkward Jesse's Betty and the cocky, jockish Greg's Veronica.
- Brainy Brunette: Technically dirty blonde; regardless, Callie is quite intelligent, as evidenced by her creativity as a member of the tech crew.
- Catchphrase: "I CAN MAKE IT WORK!" as the play keeps getting crazier and crazier.
- Character Development: Goes from being hopelessly head over heels for both Greg and Jesse to realizing that she doesn't need either of their affections.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: She is one to Raina:
- Raina was 12 years old in 1989 while Callie is 12 years old in what is presumably 2012.
- Raina was a shy, rather cynical and sarcastic Jerk with a Heart of Gold (prior to maturing a bit and meeting better people) due to her negative body images and bullying friends. Callie is a much more lighthearted and idealistic Nice Girl thanks to her supportive circle of friends.
- More subtly, Raina is a bit shorter than Callie, as shown here
. Raina has brown hair, usually pulled into a ponytail or a braid, while Callie has dirty blonde hair which she dyes purple. - Raina strictly drew and painted while Callie also builds sets for plays.
- Both Raina and Callie crush on a geek and a jock at the same time and fail to date either. However, Callie is lucky enough to stay on good terms with Jesse. Poor Raina...
- Raina was a bit of a Butt-Monkey while Callie never gets abused for comedy.
- Crush Blush: Around Jesse, Greg and briefly when Matt admits he likes her.
- Deadpan Snarker: Crops up a bit less than with Raina, but still present. Mostly when around Bonnie.
- She has a good one after Jesse comes out as gay.
Jesse: If I were to like any girl, it would be you. - Determinator: She's very driven in her quest to build the prop cannon and make sure the play goes off with a hitch. This leads to many sleepless nights and a lot of stress for her, but with the exception of the last night, her efforts pay off perfectly.
- Dude Magnet: By the end of the story, Greg and Matt show interest in her.
- Establishing Character Moment: Callie's first scene in her theatre club shows that she is extremely enthusiastic about theater and is generally a positive girl.
- Genki Girl: Far more excitable than Raina Telgemeier's other protagonists. She's basically a female Sora with her fun loving personality and zest for life. If you need further proof of this trope, see her adorable expressions during the book store scene.
- Hidden Depths: Somewhat retroactive, as her fellow crew members are impressed by her carpentry skills, as before the events of the book, she'd only painted sets.
- Nerdgasm: A more subtle, underplayed one when showing Jesse her favorite theatre book. A totally unsubtle one when visiting the fancy bookstore.
- Nice Girl: Good-natured and kind.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: The Inbetween to Liz's Nice and Matt's Mean.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: Gives a chaste one to Greg in the beginning of the story.
- Simple, yet Opulent: The blue dress she liberates from the costume vault isn't super frilly but it looks nice.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She's very interested in Jesse, a shy and anxious Nice Guy.
- Teen Genius: An excellent engineer and artist.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Downplayed, since she's not super Tomboyish, but she still is a bit more boyish than Liz, who despite having much shorter hair, does more sewing while she does more set construction.
- Tranquil Fury: After leaving the 8th Grade formal, Callie runs into Greg, who tries to hit her up after ignoring her for the entire book. She shuts him down with a hand to stop him from kissing her and a single glare.
Jesse Mendocino
- Always Identical Twins: With Justin. Callie notes that they have similar sounding voices.
- Asian and Nerdy: Tutors Bonnie. A less stereotypical version than usual, as he's more interested in humanities than STEM classes. Also (somewhat) subverting the stereotype is that, while his father has high academic standards for him, he expects Jesse to work in engineering.
- Bookworm:
- Hidden Depths: An excellent singer and performer, on par with his more extroverted brother, despite his shyness. When he puts on a dress and sings the female role in Moon Over the Mississippi, he knocks it out of the park.
- Nice Guy: A total sweetheart, asides from a brief low point at the very end. (Even then, he apologizes).
- Polar Opposite Twins: The insecure, shy bookworm to Justin's bouncy, over-the-top performer.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Justin's red. In fact, Jesse often wears a blue sweater while Justin often wears a red letter jacket.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Even moreso than Callie, thanks to his nerdiness and initial shyness.
- Spear Counterpart: Of the Single Woman Seeks Good Man trope: Has a crush on West, who is a very nice, chill person.
- Straight Gay: In the process of coming out. Callie is very surprised to learn he's gay.
- What the Hell, Hero?: He stands Callie up at the dance and not so subtly implies it's her fault for falling in love with him. Granted, he probably wasn't thinking entirely straight since he was essentially coming out as gay, but still. Luckily, he realizes his error.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: He wants to impress his supposedly strict father, who expects him to become an engineer.
Justin Mendocino
You are officially my new favorite person!
An 8th Grader and Jesse's twin who is his polar opposite personality wise (asides from also being a Nice Guy).- Always Identical Twins: With Jesse. Callie notes that they have similar sounding voices.
- Berserk Button: Being passed over for the lead role in favor of West upsets him.
- Camp Gay: Downplayed. While he's very energetic, flashy and loves theatre, he wears pretty traditionally masculine clothing and the only campy thing about him appearance wise is his long hair.
- Cuckoosnarker: When Callie jokingly tries out for the musical, Justin sarcastically congratulates her and offers to take them all to get bubble tea for her "success".
- Nice Guy: Very friendly and warm
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Callie, as he's gay and she's more interested in his brother. (Amusingly enough, they look and sound the same.)
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Jesse's blue. In fact, Justin often wears a red letter jacket while Jesse often wears a blue sweater.
Liz
...I'm scared of the dark
Callie's best friend and the girl behind costume design.- The Confidant: The one person Callie trusts to tell about her crushes.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: A female example; has this relationship with Callie.
- Nice Girl: A kind, non-judgmental friend to everyone
- Pubescent Braces: Simple metal bands.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Callie's Red. She keeps her grounded and is a confidant for her.
- Token Black Friend: She's Callie's best friend, African-American and a secondary character. The only time she gets angry at Callie is off-screen when she ditches her at the party, and even that's forgiven the next day.
Matt
- Insufferable Genius: A bit of a tool and rather Nerdy.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Quite dismissive of Justin at first due to jealousy and tries (unsuccessfully) to portray himself as a manly man. He still legitimately likes Callie and all his friends. Rather snootily tells Callie that he's too old and manly to go to a novelty store she likes. Also implies Jesse isn't a real man for putting on a dress and singing a girl's part in a musical. He's a socially awkward nerd.
- Nerd Glasses: Wears these
- Tsundere: A male example. Rather downplayed since he's, at worst, kinda a dick.
Rest of the Crew
Loren
- Passing the Torch: As he's an 8th Grader, he steps aside so Callie an take his place as head of the theatre crew.
