Newland Archer, a successful young lawyer  – tenor

May Welland, a young socialite, Archer’s fiancée  – soprano

Countess Ellen Olenska, May’s cousin, recently arrived in New York from Europe,
after leaving her dissolute husband, the Polish Count Olenski  – soprano

Mrs. Manson Catherine Mingott
matriarch of the Mingott/Welland family
and grandmother to May and Ellen – mezzo-soprano

Mrs. Augusta Welland, May’s mother – soprano

Mrs. Adeline Archer, Archer’s mother – mezzo-soprano

Mr. Sillerton Jackson, Newland’s boss at his law firm
and source of all knowledge of New York’s social scandals – bass-baritone

Mr. Lawrence Lefferts, a lawyer, known for his skills in surreptitious romance  – tenor

Mr. Julius Beaufort, successful financier, notorious for his womanizing – baritone

Nastasia, Ellen’s maid – soprano

Charles Archer, Archer’s son – tenor

The Ladies and Gentlemen of New York society – SATB chorus (4–6 members per part) from which are drawn the roles of Margarita in Faust (act 1, scene 1) (soprano), the Archery Contest Judge (act 2, scene 1) (tenor) and a Maidservant (act 2, scene 3) (soprano).

Silent roles for the servants in the Archer and Mingott households, including Mrs. Mingott’s servant Blenker.

Place: Primarily New York City; secondarily Newport, Rhode Island (act 2, scene 1); Boston (act 2, scene 2); and Paris (act 2, scene 10)

Time: The 1870’s (except for the final scene of act 2, which takes place in the first decade of the twentieth century)