Clarice Starling – A student at the FBI Academy. She hopes to work at the Behavioral Science Unit, tracking down serial killers and ultimately apprehending them. Her mentor, Jack Crawford, sends her to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The character is commonly portrayed as having a lisp.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter – A brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer who helps Clarice out in her investigation and eventually escapes prison in a bloody massacre.
Jame Gumb/Buffalo Bill – Serial killer and main antagonist of the plot. He murders overweight women so he can remove their skin and fashion a "woman suit" for himself; he believes himself to be transsexual but is too disturbed to qualify for sex reassignment surgery.
Catherine Baker Martin – Daughter of Senator Ruth Martin, kidnapped and imprisoned by "Buffalo Bill".
Jack Crawford – The Agent-in-Charge of the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI in Quantico, Virginia.
Ardelia Mapp – Roommate of Clarice Starling and also a student at the FBI Academy who helps her out in the investigation.
Dr. Frederick Chilton – The pompous, incompetent director of the Chesapeake State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and later Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane. There, he is the jailer of Hannibal Lecter.
Papa Starling – Clarice's deceased father who appears to her in visions to encourage her in carrying out the investigation. A Virginia sheriff who was killed during a robbery.
Senator Ruth Martin – National senator and mother of Catherine, who pleads for Buffalo Bill to release her daughter on national television and arranges for Lecter to be transferred to a lighter security prison in Baltimore in exchange for information on the killer.
Musical numbers
"Silence!" – The Lambs
"Thish Ish It" – Clarice, Crawford, and Ensemble
"The Right Guide" – Chilton, Clarice, and Ensemble
"If I Could Smell Her Cunt" – Dr. Lecter
"Papa Shtarling" – Papa Starling and Clarice
"It's Agent Shtarling" – Clarice
"Are You About a Size 14?" – Buffalo Bill, Catherine, and Ensemble
"My Daughter Is Catherine" – Senator Martin
"Quid Pro Quo" – Dr. Lecter and Clarice
"I'd Fuck Me" – Bill and Ensemble
"It's Me!" – Dr. Lecter and Ensemble
"Catherine Dies Today" – Ardelia, Clarice, Bill, and Ensemble
"Papa Shtarling" – Papa Starling and Clarice
"Put the Fucking Lotion in the Basket" – Bill and Catherine
"We're Going In!" – Starling, Bill, and Ensemble
"Bill's Death " – Starling, Bill, Catherine, and Ensemble
"Silence" – Clarice, Dr. Lecter, Crawford, and The Lambs
Development
The project began in 2003 as an internet musical made up of nine songs that retold the entire story. The audio tracks became popular to the extent that a live show was conceived and staged. Six additional songs were written by the Kaplans, and the book was written by Hunter Bell, based on the original screenplay Silence! The Musical, also by the Kaplans.
Productions
The stage musical premiered in the Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York, on August 12, 2005 as part of the New York International Fringe Festival, and showed until August 28, 2005. The production was directed by Christopher Gattelli. Silence! had its European premiere in London on October 19, 2009, showing for two weeks at the Barons Court Theatre. The run was directed by David Phipps-Davis. Christopher Gattelli's production subsequently transferred to the Above The Stag Theatre, running from January 19 - February 28, 2010. Directed and choreographed by Gattelli, this production featured new material written for its London outing. An off-Broadway mounting of the show opened June 24 – September 26, 2011 at Theatre 80, directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli. It transferred to the 9th Space Theatre at PS 122 on October 24, 2011. The musical reopened on January 18, 2013 at the Elektra Theatre, in New York City's Times Square, through August 13. Jobsite Theater in Tampa, FL, presented the southeastern US premiere of the show in the Jaeb Theater at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts Oct 14 – November 15, 2015. Corn Productions presented the Chicago premiere at the Cornservatory July 8 – August 13, 2016. Cloud 9 Theatricals, in association with Lang Entertainment Group and Ray of Light Theater presented the San Francisco premiere at the Victoria TheaterJanuary 26 – April 1, 2017. Down Stage Right Theatre Productions, in association with the Neanderthal Arts Festival, presented the Western Canada premiere on July 25 - August 3, 2019.
Casts
The original NY cast included Brent Barrett as Hannibal Lecter, Jenn Harris as Clarice, Stephen Bienskie as Buffalo Bill, Deidre Goodwin as Ardelia Mapp, Jeff Hiller, Howard Kaye as Papa Starling, Lucia Spina in a dual role as both Senator and Catherine Martin, Callan Bergmann as Jack Crawford, Harry Bouvy as Dr. Chilton, and Ashlee Dupré. Silence! played 67 performances at the Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles in late 2012. Christine Lakin and Davis Gaines headlined the cast.
Awards
2005: Outstanding Musical, New York International Fringe Festival
2011: Time Magazine's Top 10 Plays and Musicals 2011
2012: Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Musical
