Schmigadoon! / Characters

Characters from the musical series Schmigadoon!.

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Our Heroes

Melissa Gimble

Played by: Cecily Strong

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"Romance in musicals isn't always logical. That's why they usually let the songs do the heavy lifting."

One of two protagonists. Melissa is an OB-GYN from New York, Josh's longtime girlfriend, and a lifelong fan of musicals.

Appearance Angst: Feels self-concious about her looks next to the other dancers auditioning for the Kratt club. This despite having three men over two seasons try to steal her away from Josh.
Audience Surrogate: A regular person who winds up in Schmigadoon and learns about it along with the audience. She's also a musical theater fan, enjoying the environment and able to point out the references.
Fatal Flaw: Perfectionism. While she wallows when things go great, she tends to blow certain things that don't seem perfect to her, like her relationship with Josh, out of proportion. This can lead to her denying her part in those flaws, making her come across as selfish.
Genre Savvy:
- Melissa is a musical theater fan — she's seen watching Singin' in the Rain in the beginning (while Josh tries to sleep through it). As a result, she's more receptive to being stuck in a musical theater world than Josh is, even participating in the songs early on. When Josh tries to get out of his Shotgun Wedding she reassures him that nobody dies in musicals, and then promptly takes it back after remembering various tragic theater deaths. Subverted when it comes to her interactions with the Countess, however. Melissa expects her to be a Graceful Loser in the style of Baroness Schrader in The Sound of Music but is proven very wrong.
- Less so in season 2, as she admits that she's less familiar with musicals of the '60s and '70s. She pointedly didn't finish Sweeney Todd and thus mistakes Codwell and Blight's cheery singing about killing orphan children for their meat for a happy ending.
In-Series Nickname: "Mel".
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: She inadvertently fills this role in her relationship with Doc Lopez, her progressive "city-ways" coming across as an affront to his authority at first, only for him to fall in love with her for it. It is when she discovers that she is this to him does she realize that she doesn't love Lopez.
Musical Number Annoyance: Melissa is more receptive than Josh to their musical environment. She still doesn't like dream ballets, however.
Melissa: They're annoying and stupid. They slow everything down. Nobody likes a dream ballet. Nobody!
Professional Maiden Name: She marries Josh in the second season premiere, but continues to introduce herself as "Melissa Gimble" afterwards.

Josh Skinner

Played by: Keegan-Michael Key

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"I didn't become a surgeon for fellowships. I did it because I wanted to help people without having to talk to them."

One of two protagonists. Josh is a surgeon, Melissa's longtime boyfriend, and someone who staunchly dislikes musicals.

Audience Surrogate: Like Melissa, he's a real person who winds up in Schmigadoon and learns its quirks. He's the surrogate for audience members who dislike musicals, since he makes no secret of how he dislikes them.
Character Development: He grows from someone who'll give up at an inconvenience to someone willing to step up and work on his relationship.
Fatal Flaw: Laziness. While he isn't above grand romantic gestures, he mainly tries to take the road less-travelled. He tries to ignore certain problems, give up when things look hard and avoids social-situations when he can. This is one of the reasons why being in a literal musical comes across as torture to him: musical numbers are big, hammy productions that speak directly from the heart, and he is a man of few words who keeps his feelings to himself.
Musical Number Annoyance: While trapped in a musical land, Josh scoffs at all the singing and dancing going on around them. So it's a big deal that he willingly sings to Melissa in the finale.
Not So Above It All: Despite his general dislike of musicals, in the second season premiere he agrees to join Melissa on her attempts to revisit Schmigadoon. When they find Schmicago instead, he actually grooves along to the first song.
Vocal Evolution: His singing voice noticeably improves across the first two seasons, as demonstrated if one compares "You Make Me Wanna Sing" to the first verse of "Talk to Daddy".

Residents of Schmigadoon

Aloysius Menlove

Played by: Alan Cumming

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"Somewhere love is waiting for you
Someday it will come right on cue
Just as every morning, the sun comes into view
Somewhere love is waiting for you..."

Schmigadoon's kindly mayor of many years.

Hide Your Lesbians: Parodied with Mayor Menlove, who was deliberately patterned after queer-coded characters in old musicals; the fact that he's gay is hinted at through lyrics. When he comes out in front of the congregation he sings:
I'm a homosexuaaaal
It's no longer subtextuaaaal
Late Coming Out: Aloysius doesn't come out until middle age.
Meaningful Name: Mayor Menlove is into men, and his reassurance of Melissa in "Somewhere Love Is Waiting for You" turns into an operetta about how love is forbidden for him as well.
Nice Guy: Aloysius is a sweet and gentle guy who has the town's wellbeing in mind. Florence even sings that his kindness separates him from the other men in town.
Permanent Elected Official: He mentions having repeatedly run for mayor unopposed. He finally faces competition when Mildred decides to run against him, but is re-elected when Mildred has a Villainous Breakdown right before the vote begins.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Mayor Menlove is presented as a genuinely Nice Guy plagued with hiding his secret passions, his motto being that he strives that everyone achieves peace and happiness.

Florence Menlove

Played by: Ann Harada

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"But my man is gentle
As soft 'n' sentimental
As any lace adorn'd a valentine
He's a queer one
That man o' mine."

Aloysius's sweet wife.

The Beard: Married to the obviously gay Aloysius.
Comically Missing the Point: Gets a whole song about how much her husband is not like other men: he's instead gentle, kind, sensitive, and has feminine hobbies. However, she feels like he's hiding something from her... Melissa is quicker on the uptake that Aloysius is gay.
Just Friends: While at first shocked and upset when her husband comes out, by the last episode she comes to her husband's defense when Mildred tries attacking his character, confessing that while he might not be attracted to her sexually (even admitting that it seemed obvious in hindsight), they do still care for each other.
Nice Girl: Florence is a sweetheart, and while she's understandably upset when Aloysius comes out as gay, she discourages the townsfolk from shunning him and they end the season as good friends.

Mildred Layton

Played by: Kristin Chenoweth

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"All thanks to these two out-of-towners
Doctor Skinner and Miss Gimble
Better hold on to your husband
Best keep an eye on your wife
'Cause there's gonna be some tribulation and strife!"

The reverend's imperious wife and the leader of the Mothers Against the Future, women who oppose social progress in Schmigadoon.

Actor Allusion: One of the townspeople refers to the Mothers Against the Future, led by Kristin Chenoweth's character, as witches. Chenoweth's most famous Broadway role was as a witch. She even gets to wave a broom around in "Tribulation".
The Beard: For Howard, who is secretly gay and in love with Aloysius.
Book Burning: It's mentioned that she's burned a number of books from the local library (in fact, the picnic basket auction from the second episode is a fundraiser to replace them).
Casting Gag: Kristin Chenoweth starred as Marian in an ABC production of The Music Man, one of the musicals being homaged.
Cold Ham: Despite being a stiff Moral Guardian, she manages to make every ounce of her displease known through imperious gestures and one-liners.
Dark Is Evil: She wears nothing but dark purple in contrast to everyone else's bright pastel colors and is a Hate Sink, having her boot on the town's collective neck as a fear-monger who takes every opportunity to exorcise her non-judicial authority.
Moral Guardians: The leader of a group of women who act against anything they think will tarnish the purity of Schmigadoon.
Politically Incorrect Villain: In keeping with her other negative traits and antagonism towards Melissa and Josh, she is explicitly against interracial relationships despite Schmigadoon being fairly racially diverse.
Villainous Breakdown: After the townspeople rally around Aloysius, Josh, and Emma in the finale, with the final straws being her husband Howard coming out as gay and Nancy (the girl who had an out-of-wedlock baby) coming forward as Mildred's daughter, Mildred snaps and raves against the town, who are all too happy to vote Aloysius in as mayor once more.

Rev. Howard Layton

Reverend Howard Layton

"True love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. In other words, it's a lot of work. So, it's probably not something you find. It's probably something you make."

The town reverend.

Good Shepherd: Offers shelter to Josh after his wife drives him from the inn and gives Josh encouragement and advice about love.
Henpecked Husband: Clearly a doormat to his domineering wife, to the point that he allowed her to send their daughter away when she got pregnant out of wedlock. When Josh spies Emma outside the church, Howard comments that he wishes he had Emma's strength to refuse marriage.
Late Coming Out: He comes out after many years of marriage to Mildred, professing his love for Aloysius.

Betsy McDonough

Played by: Dove Cameron

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"All the girls flirt and talk romance
Soon as they see a pair of pants
When the sun goes down they let their morals slide
But I'm gonna wait 'til I'm a bride."

Farmer McDonough's eldest and loveliest daughter.

Dawson Casting: Lampshaded with Betsy, who is a teen girl very obviously played by an actress in her twenties. Melissa converses this trend when Josh complains that Betsy is Younger than She Looks:invoked
Melissa: Yeah, have you not seen The Sound of Music? Liesl was sixteen going on twenty-nine.
Erotic Eating: In "Enjoy the Ride (Part II)" Betsy packs a picnic basket full of suggestive food. Josh pulls out two melons, and she sticks her finger into a cream pie and licks it.
Farmer's Daughter: Her father, the local farmer, is overprotective. Nevertheless, Betsy flirts with Josh despite her innocent appearance.
Girlish Pigtails: To emphasize her youthfulness, Betsy wears her hair in two curled blonde pigtails.
Hidden Depths: In "How We Change", she admits to being a socialist.
Lady in Red: An innocently seductive young woman who is clad in a red gingham dress (she's a Farmer's Daughter after all) and wears bright red lipstick. Gets an additional meaning in the finale when she reveals herself to be a socialist.
Massive Numbered Siblings: She's the oldest of seven sisters... to the dismay of Farmer McDonough, who wanted a son.
Shout-Out: The character was inspired by Ado Annie, an innocent-looking young woman whose flirtatiousness causes problems.
A Side Order of Romance: Josh first becomes attracted to Betsy while she waitresses for him at the diner. Their flirtation goes awry, however.
Vague Age: Lampshaded. Betsy is Younger than She Looks and definitely much younger than Josh, but her exact age is purposefully left vague, with Josh even noting he might never know exactly how old she is.

Danny Bailey

Played by: Aaron Tveit

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"I'm like an animal in the wild
So here's a truth to which you must be reconciled
You can't tame me!"

The handsome rapscallion who operates the local carnival.

Confirmed Bachelor: In "You Can't Tame Me" he declares that he'll never settle down with a woman and describes previous ladies who have tried and failed. He does, however, fall hard and fast for Melissa, even reprising the song that she has tamed him.
Expy: Of Billy Bigelow. Like Billy, he's a socially unacceptable carnival barker. His solos riff on Billy's as well: he gets a number about reluctantly falling for the heroine and reenacts Carousel's famous "bench scene".
Hands-On Approach: Danny teaches Melissa to fire a gun by wrapping his arms around her.
Ladykiller in Love: Despite proclaiming himself a man who can't and won't settle down despite the efforts of many women, he quickly falls for Melissa.

Emma Tate

Played by: Ariana DeBose

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"When you've got a job to do
You must try with all your heart
Life's profoundest joys
Go to girls and boys
Who finish what they start."

The sensible schoolmarm, who is hiding a secret.

Ambiguously Bi: It's not explicit, but she didn't cross the bridge with Josh like every other available woman in town, and refuses to get married, something the married, closeted gay Howard Layton says he admires her for. Though she does fall in love with Josh, she also brazenly checked out Melissa, contrasting with Florence's song in the same episode about how Aloysius doesn't look at women like that. When Aloysius publicly comes out of the closet, she looks happy for him while the rest of the townsfolk appear put off.
Cool Teacher: Emma is a progressive-minded and strong-willed woman who never hesitates to speak her mind, despite living in a rather backwards town. She is also brave enough disarm and then talk down Farmer McDonough when he threatens Josh at gunpoint to marry his daughter.
Expy: Of Marian Paroo, an intelligent, forward-thinking small-town woman who works in a "smart" job (Marian is a librarian, Emma is a schoolmarm). Like Marian, she has a much-younger brother with a lisp who acts as the town crier. She even cites the same "dirty" authors expunged in The Music Man: Geoffrey Chaucer, Francois Rabelais, and Honoré de Balzac. Lampshaded by Melissa, who recognizes her character as being right out of The Music Man (and The King and I, another musical with a forward-thinking schoolteacher heroine) and tells Josh how to progress Marian's story.
Luke, I Am Your Father: It's revealed that her "brother" Carson is actually her illegitimate son, having kept it a secret from everyone, including Carson himself.
Old Maid: The village women gossip in the introductory song that Emma is unmarried at 28.
Schoolmarm: The local teacher who teaches a schoolhouse's worth of kids.

Carson Tate

Played by: Liam Quiring-Nkindi

The schoolmarm's "little brother" who announces the news.

Cannot Keep a Secret: Emma admits that this is a flaw of Carson's: every time he learns something he runs off and announces it to the town.
Expy: Of Winthrop Paroo. He's introduced as the much younger brother to the town's "smart girl" who acts as the town crier. Melissa recognizes his similarity to Winthrop and advises Josh — who intends to romance Emma — to help Carson open up with music the way Harold did for Winthrop in The Music Man. It works.
Speech Impediment: He was born with an abnormally large tongue, giving him a precocious lisp. Emma admits to having had a lisp herself at his age.

Doc Lopez

Dr. Jorge Lopez

Played by: Jaime Camil

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"Suddenly I find myself forgetting
All the things that bounce around my brain
Suddenly I want to plan a wedding
Although I know that's perfectly insane."

The younger town doctor, who hires Melissa after she seeks lodging.

Closest Thing We Got: He works as the town doctor, especially after his father dies, but the finale reveals his training was actually in veterinary medicine.
Defrosting Ice King: Starts out cold and unwelcoming to Melissa but later warms up and appreciates what she brings to the table.
Meaningful Name: His name is Jorge, the Spanish equivalent of the Germanic Georg. He is based on Captain Georg Von Trapp.
Shout-Out: He's different enough from Captain Georg Von Trapp to not be an expy, but he parallels the good captain in personality enough that Melissa lampshades it.
- He's a perfectionist, professional widower with a blonde fiancee.
- His and Melissa's Dance of Romance incorporates the Ländler, an Austrian folk dance performed by Maria and Georg in the show.
Silver Fox: He's middle-aged with greying hair, and is noted to be very attractive in-universe.

Gabrielle "Blerky" Von Blerkom

Countess Gabrielle Von Blerkom

Played by: Jane Krakowski

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"So I hope you had your fun
But the fact is, girl 'ya done
'Cause this time, hon
Oh, this time hon
Yeah, this time hon
I am gonna, gonna get my man!"

Jorge's wife-to-be.

Disposable Fiancé: Zig-Zagged. After a big love number with Doc Lopez, Melissa easily identifies his fiancée Countess Von Blerkom as the Baroness character who will graciously step aside for Melissa and Jorge's romance. However, "Blerky" has no intention of rolling over. She drives Melissa out to the wilderness and, at gunpoint, rages at her for ruining her engagement. Despite this, however, Jorge chooses Melissa...and then Melissa realizes she doesn't really want to be with Jorge.
Expy: Of Baroness Elsa Schraeder. Like the Baroness, she is a beautiful, rich blonde of noble descent who is supposed to marry the cold, perfectionist widow love interest (Jorge). She even shows up in a similar outfit to the Baroness in the film (coiffed hair, dangling earrings, gold dress, white gloves). Lampshaded by Melissa, who recognizes their situation as being right out of The Sound of Music, and expects her to be a Graceful Loser. Melissa even mentions that the original Baroness may or may not have been a Nazi; "Blerky" says of course she's a Nazi.
Romantic Runner-Up: In her solo, she recounts that she has a history of being dumped for her boyfriend's employees.
Vanity License Plate: Her license plate reads "BLERKY", her In-Universe Nickname.
The Von Trope Family: A comedic example. She's an antagonistic Germanic aristocrat named Countess Gabriele Von Blerkom.

Residents of Schmicago

Jenny Banks

Played by: Dove Cameron

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"Now we're kaput
Once our desire burnt like a fire
But now there's nothing left but soot..."

A performer at the Kratt Club.

'20s Bob Haircut: Jenny wears her hair in a sleek black bob. She's a cabaret singer based on Sally from Cabaret, a show set in 1920s Berlin.
Comically Missing the Point: She's on the receiving end of a group song number about how she should reconcile with her dad, and though she's bopping along to the music, her takeaway from it is that she should go talk to Topher.
Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Unlike Dove Cameron's season 1 Betsy, a sweet Farmer's Daughter, season 2's Jenny is a Ms. Fanservice dancer. Melissa is taken aback by the difference between them.
Expository Hairstyle Change: Jenny begins to grow out her hair when she joins the hippies and starts seeing Topher, though she resumes her normal style by the end of the season.
Genki Girl: Very cheerful, upbeat, and energetic. Introduced cheerily rolling into Josh and Melissa's room and poking around.
Long-Lost Relative: Is this to her father Dooley, who she was taken from at a young age.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: The naturally pale Dove Cameron puts on a raven-black wig as the beautiful Jenny, a specific homage to Cabaret.
Shout-Out:
- Her physical appearance, manner, and profession pay homage to Sally Bowles.
- As revealed in episode 3, her backstory of being separated by her parents and taken in by a lecherous older man is very similar to Johanna Barker.

Sergeant Rivera

Played by: Jaime Camil

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"There's always a twist."

Schmicago's chief of police, who is the nephew of Octavius Kratt.

Bad Liar: He tries to hide that he'd just gotten a call from Octavius Kratt despite beginning it with "Uncle Octavius".
Dirty Cop: He's the chief of police but does his sinister uncle's bidding.
Grew a Spine: He finally gets the gall to stand up for his uncle after almost three decades of following his orders.
Hooked Up Afterwards: He and the Narrator announce after the happy ending that they'll start dating.
Repression Never Ends Well: Keeping a tight lid on his ambitions causes him to take out his frustrations on undeserving targets.
Unmanly Secret: Despite presenting as the manly police officer, Rivera secretly wants to perform at the Kratt Club. After his uncle dies, we see him perform an act evocative of The Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Sweet Transvestite" Frank-N-Furter.

Miss Codwell

Played by: Kristin Chenoweth

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"I'm just a woman with needs of me own
Who'd like to do some misdeeds of me own
With a certain someone
But though I am a woman who's never enjoyed
That thing what as a mother gets you employed
Somehow I seem to have become one"

A woman who cares for and sells the orphans of Schmicago. She's infatuated with Dooley Blight.

Affably Evil: Downplayed, in that she's certainly quite cold and cruel to the orphans she cares for, but she is quite jovial with everyone else and romantically hits it off with Dooley despite the initial awkwardness.
Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Codwell was willing to harvest meat from children a couple of episodes prior, so her eventually killing Kratt doesn't reflect too badly on the two protagonists.
Evil Orphanage Lady: She manages an orphanage, apparently abusively: there are lines about not feeding them, keeping them in cages, and training them to tend bar. And that's not even getting into being willing to grind them up for meat.
Heel–Face Turn: She comes up with the idea for Dooley to turn the orphans into meat, but, by the last episode, she's dissuading him from going through with it and turns his aggression back to Kratt instead.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Her abusive nature starts to peel away once she's shown some genuine affection from her charges.
Shout-Out: To two notable musical theatre characters.
- The fact that she runs an Orphanage of Fear (and has an entire song complaining about it) brings to mind Miss Hannigan.
- Her physical appearance, introductory song (which borrows heavily from "The Worst Pies in London") and connection to Dooley (himself an Expy for Sweeney Todd) bring to mind Mrs. Lovett.

Dooley Blight