Violet – Location, Tickets, Reviews
Sutton Foster returns to Midtown in Violet, a musical by Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley. The story of a disfigured young woman who boards a bus from North Carolina to Oklahoma seeking the healing hands of an evangelist preacher, set in 1964, Violet makes its Broadway debut via Roundabout Theater Company. It premiered at Playwrights Horizons more than ten years ago and re-entered the New York theater consciousness last summer with a one-night-only concert performance, part of City Center’s popular Encores! series.
Maxamoo
Violet’s off-kilter, largely downbeat tale of a scarred, hardened woman longing for the Lord to make her pretty isn’t a likely candidate for 42nd Street. It would have continued life as a cult musical were it not for the luminescent Tony-winning stage actress Sutton Foster signing on as the title character. And Foster – as she tends to do – really blows the dust off this off-Broadway B-side and blows the doors off the American Airlines Theater. As tender as she is fierce, as vulnerable as she is coiled in shame, Foster gives a gorgeously complex and soul-stirring performance. She is the reason to see Violet.
If you need another reason, it’s that Violet offers a chance for fans of Tesori, the author of such sophisticated and heartbreaking musicals as Caroline, or Change and Fun Home, to bone up on one of her earliest works. The budding seeds of her talent are sown throughout the score. The songs slide elegantly through tones of bluegrass, gospel, and good ol’ show-bizzy ballads allowing shafts of hope and acceptance to pierce the dark firmament of Violet‘s somber tone. Now, toss in a few great supporting performances (Colin Donnell and Joshua Henry as Violet’s soldier suitors, and Alexander Gemignani as her resilient father) and some subtle directing from Leigh Silverman, and you’ve got a revival worth seeing.
Though not the showiest or even the most well-polished thing uptown (the second act definitely loses some of the hot steam of the first), Violet is a triumph for its uniqueness, its off-brand beauty, and one of the finest lead performances of the season so far.
Public Opinion
Have you seen Violet? What did you think? Comment below or tweet to us at @maxamoo.
Critics’ Review
Most reviewers spent their column inches praising Sutton Foster’s sensational performance in Violet but a few grumbled that the musical itself is far from Tesori’s best work.
New York Times
Longing for a Facial Scar to Simply Vanish
Time Out New York
Foster digs deep into rocky but fertile ground.
Huffington Post
The performances are strong, and Sutton Foster skillfully tackles both musical and dramatic moments. But even with Jeanine Tesori’s tender score, more exposition would add greater coherence.
TheaterMania
Sutton Foster stars in the Broadway premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley’s 1997 musical.
New York Magazine
In Violet, an Unlovely Accident Yields a Lovely Musical
New York Theater
Sutton Foster on a Bus To Beautiful
AndrewAndrew
Video Review
TICKETS
$67 – $152 (click to purchase tickets)
DATES
Performances through August 10, 2014
LOCATION
American Airlines Theater
227 West 42nd Street
New York City
[google-map-v3 width=”250″ height=”250″ zoom=”12″ maptype=”roadmap” mapalign=”left” directionhint=”false” language=”default” poweredby=”false” maptypecontrol=”true” pancontrol=”true” zoomcontrol=”true” scalecontrol=”true” streetviewcontrol=”true” scrollwheelcontrol=”false” draggable=”true” tiltfourtyfive=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkerlist=”227 W 42nd Street New York{}1-default.png” bubbleautopan=”true” showbike=”false” showtraffic=”false” showpanoramio=”false”]
RUNNING TIME
1 hour 40 minutes, no intermission
CAST & CREW
(partial list)
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Book & Lyrics by Brian Crawley
Directed by Leigh Silverman
Featuring Sutton Foster, Colin Donnell, Alexander Gemignani & Joshua Henry