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Adria Altes (80)
Project: Film (Four Part Harmony)
Known as: No nicknames
Real name: Adria Altes
Group affiliation: Extra Adar Rhiannon (EAR – a college A Capella group)
Physical description: Adria is in her early 60ies and is well put together. She clearly cares about her appearance and has likely had plastic surgery. She is platinum blond and dresses like she could go to a party at any point.
Personality: Adria is confident to the point of brashness. She’s the type to light a cigarette in a restaurant and dare the world to do something about it (fortunately Angie is one of the few people not cowed by Adria and would put it out). She cares very much about appearances and loves to judge others. She is skilled at throwing shade and is bitingly funny. Angie and her verbally duel regularly (in a mostly loving way) and her and Harmony would have dramatic fights. Adria would NEVER say anything cruel to Sara Jane, however – she clearly prefers feisty targets (and may have a heart underneath it all). She HATES Harmony’s partner. She assures everyone that she has the best, most enviable life enough that it is pretty obvious she is profoundly unhappy.
History: Adria grew up the daughter of a successful attorney and a socialite in Columbus, OH. She wanted for very little and went to the best schools. Her family adhered to conservative Judaism though she was mild in her faith at best. She was smart, and an excellent debater, and her father had great dreams of her being a prominent attorney. The only challenge to this was that she was an uninterested student.
Her attending Ohio State was a bit of rebellion as the family’s expectation was that she’d go to a private school. She was hesitant to leave the life she had built in Columbus and ultimately her family was happy to have her stay. She was quite happy to feel superior to her fellow students (all of which was masking some insecurities). She fell into that rich person zone where she was generally disliked but didn’t lack for hangers-on. Additionally, she was very attractive which caused her to get a lot of attention.
She took an introductory course with Angie and Sara Jane and was an immediate rival of Angie. Having similar exceptional intelligence and confidence, they pushed one another. Both were protective of Sara Jane and they made an odd trio in the course. Angie knew Adria could sing (one of their classroom arguments led to a sing-off) and Angie was on the fence about Adria joining her A Capella group (the frenemy status warred with Angie’s drive to create the best possible group). It was moot, however, as Adria certainly considered such an effort beneath her.
Until Harmony came along. Although Harmony was not wealthy, Adria seemed to find her extremely threatening. They were quick to argue, however arguing with Harmony could be extremely frustrating. Mostly because Harmony didn’t seem to actively debate but still managed to win the argument. Adria was fairly easy to manipulate (all Harmony had to do was suggest that Adria might not be good enough for the group) and she ultimately joined EAR.
While they were in the group together, they were all become close friends. Still Harmony seemed to have an usual gift for getting under Adria’s skin and seemed to be able to fluster Adria like no one else could. When Sara Jane left the group suddenly, the remaining three carried on for a bit longer but it wasn’t the same. Then at the end of the year, Adria left Ohio State as well, stating that it was a waste of her time.
To her father’s disappointment, Adria found a wealthy beau and also became a socialite. For years she ruled all the choicest foundations and associations with an iron fist and was the intimidating terror of the Columbus social scene. She had one child, who was largely raised by staff.
Now, years later, she has gotten an invitation to attend Harmony’s funeral. Those she acts put out and cranky, secretly she is thrilled to see her old friends again. She is less thrilled when she is assigned the disposal of a portion of Harmony’s cremated remains, especially when she is asked to throw the ashes in the fireplace of a local landmark at a certain time.
It turns out that a support group will be holding a meeting at the location at the time specified. It will be an LGBT support group which will force Adria to remember how she once kissed Harmony but was rejected (in an extremely gentle way, “I can’t be the person you need”). She has been an extremely closet lesbian ever since and Harmony has now manipulated her into a situation where she might finally be able to deal with this.
Role in the narrative: She’s one of our protagonists.
Abilities: She’s smart, witty, and manipulative.
Inspirations: She’s a bit like Samantha from Sex and the City (minus the joy). There is plenty of precedent for characters in the closet who suffer as a result (e.g., American Beauty).
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