TALLEYRAND

Lead / Baritone / Age: plays 50+ / A career politician who spots the talent in a young ‘nobody’ and manipulates events to facilitate Napoleon’s rise. With a serpent’s charm, Talleyrand is able to beguile one instant and destroy the next.

‍
NAPOLEON

Lead / High Baritone / Age: plays 20s-50s / A soldier who rises from nothing to become Emperor. Charismatic, brilliant, and driven by an unrelenting ambition. A diamond in the rough, Napoleon’s energy and manner throughout is closer to that of a street fighter than the sovereign he becomes. Obsessed with two things: success and Josephine.

‍
JOSEPHINE

Lead w/ doubling / Alto / Age: plays 30s-50s / An aristocrat whose need to survive after the Revolution finds her playing mistress to the corrupt leader of the new government. Strong, compassionate, sensual and key to Napoleon’s success. The future foretold by a fortuneteller that she will one day become greater than a queen comes true in her marriage to Napoleon.

BARRAS

Support w/ doubling / Baritone / Age: plays 30s-40s/ The debauched and corrupt leader of the revolutionary government, his abuse of Talleyrand is the fuel that feeds Talleyrand’s desire to plot against him and bring about his downfall. When Napoleon overthrows Barras he is liberator of not only the nation, but Talleyrand and Josephine as well. Barras is the keeper of the secret that will ultimately pit Napoleon against Talleyrand, his maker.

LUCIEN

Support w/ doubling / Baritone / Age: plays 20s-30s/ Napoleon’s younger brother. Trusting, idealistic and naive. His belief in the promise of the Revolution and his brother’s vow to uphold it, is instrumental to the success of the coup that brings Napoleon to power. When that vow is broken, Lucien challenges Napoleon, only to become the first personal casualty of an ambition that will ultimately lay waste to a nation.

THÉRÈSE

Support w/ doubling / Mezzo / Age: plays 30s-50s/ The most wealthy and influential society woman in Paris, Thérèse loves a party and is Josephine’s closest friend. It is her money that bankrolls the coup that brings Napoleon to power, a debt she feels she owes Josephine because of a secret injury she caused her after her marriage to Napoleon.

ANTON

Support w/ doubling / Tenor / Age: plays 20s-30s/ A young soldier in Napoleon’s army, Anton unquestioningly follows his leader and the dream of the new world he’s fighting for. For Anton, anything is possible, even marriage to Clarice, a girl far above his station. He pays dearly for his blind belief, freezing to death in Russia in the aftermath of Napoleon’s ill-conceived invasion.

CLARICE

Support w/ doubling / Alto / Age: plays 20s-30s/ The spirited, naive daughter of General Henri, Head of the War Ministry, Clarice marries Anton and becomes part of the imperial court. When news of the failure of the Russian invasion reaches Paris, Clarice is one of the thousands of new mothers left waiting and hoping for the safe return of their husbands.

GENERAL HENRI

Support w/ doubling / Low Baritone-Bass / Age: plays 50s-60s/ Head of the War Ministry, General Henri is the first influential figure Talleyrand introduces his young protégé to. Initially impressed with Napoleon’s strategic genius, Henri soon finds himself questioning the brutal tactics Napoleon uses to achieve his goals.

FOUCHÉ

Support w/ doubling / Baritone / Age: plays 30s-50s/ A brutish and unscrupulous low-ranking civil servant, Fouché is one of two henchmen serving Talleyrand. Physically bear-like, he makes for an odd pairing with Talleyrand’s other henchman, the rodent-like Garrau.

GARRAU

Support w/ doubling / Tenor / Age: plays 30s-50s/ An obsequious and oily low-ranking civil servant, Garrau is one of two henchmen serving Talleyrand. Physically rodent-like, he makes for an odd pairing with Talleyrand’s other henchman, the brutish Fouché.

PAOLI

Support w/ doubling / Bass / Age: 40s / Leader of the government in Napoleon’s homeland of Corsica, Paoli and his soldiers deliver the wounds that will shape Napoleon’s destiny when he is violently beaten after standing up to the authority of the Corsican government.

HIPPOLYTE

Small Feature w/ doubling and ensemble / Tenor Age: 20-30 / Possessing Adonis-like good looks, Hippolyte is an aristocrat who Josephine has an affair with immediately following her marriage to Napoleon. The resulting pregnancy is kept from his knowledge – a secret known only to Josephine, Thérèse, Barras and Talleyrand.

ENSEMBLE FEMALE 1

Multiple roles / Soprano / Age: 20-30 / Covers a wide variety of roles from peasant to society lady, foot soldier to new mother, lady in waiting to member of the imperial court.

ENSEMBLE FEMALE 2

Multiple roles / Soprano / Age: 20-30 / Cover a wide variety of roles from peasant to society lady, foot soldier to new mother, lady in waiting to member of the imperial court.