cast of characters vs gathering

cast of characters and gathering both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
cast of characters	Yes	No	No	No
gathering	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, gathering is a hypernym of cast of characters; that is, gathering is a word with a broader meaning than cast of characters:

Other hypernyms of cast of characters include assemblage.

cast of characters (noun)	gathering (noun)
the actors in a play	the social act of assembling
	the act of gathering something
	sewing consisting of small folds or puckers made by pulling tight a thread in a line of stitching
	a group of persons together in one place