Maggie is the sweetheart of the group. She's everyone's little sister, prom queen, cheerleader, and ballerina all rolled into one. A real dreamer, she's kinda like the Cameron Diaz character in "My Best Friend's Wedding."
The role of Maggie is based on the lives of Donna McKechnie(original Cassie) and Kay Cole, the original actress who played Maggie. The indian chief story was told by McKechnie.
This is the "singing" role of the show, as Maggie, while not having a lot of dialogue, has the most singing solos next to Diana. Kay Cole was selected partially because of her high, clear voice. The third "at the ballet" was called the "Money note" becasue it always brought down the house.
As you may know, she is the third girl in "At the Ballet," so she shares a common background with Bebe and Sheila as far as a broken home and the escape to dance class. When Maggie lifted her arms to dance with the Indian cheif, her mother thought she was
trying to do the high fifth ballet arm position, so her mom sent her to dance class.
Maggie has a lot of funny lines in the Montage and the Tap Combination. They help deliniate her character since she doesn't have a lot of spoken lines.
Maggie is one of the somewhat experienced performers, roughly on the level of Don, Mike, Kristine, Richie, and Paul. She would know some of these performers as well as some of the more seasoned performers like Sheila, Greg, Connie, etc. Others she might know only
periphially.
Notice her attitude in the "accident/alternatives" scene. She is highly concerned and cautious (Should we get a dance bag? We don't know if we should give him that?) and then
later dreamy and optimistic (I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I still give myself a time limit!) These
show her deeply caring and hopeful ideals. She is only slightly more seasoned than Bebe, Kristine, Mark, and Paul, even though she has been working professionally for several years.
She usually wears a leotard with a pink or rose v-neck t-shirt. She is supposed to be very feminine. The outfit pictured on the familiar logo was judged as being "too tomboyish."
Pam Klinger,who played Maggie in the movie, had been playing her on Broadway when she got the part. Original Maggie Kay Cole envisioned Olivia Newton-John playing the role, if that gives you another idea.
