Rehearsals have begun on the Australian premiere for the 2014 Broadway revival of the musical Violet. From the Tony Award-wining Jeanine Tesori and with a libretto by Brian Crawley, Violet is the story of a young farm woman on her journey across America seeking the divine intervention of a televangelist preacher to heal her face that was left scarred after a terrible accident. Instead with her mishmash crew of fellow travellers, as their bus trip traverses American in the racially divisive 1960s, they discover that beauty is not always in the eye of the beholder.
Violet boasts a multi-genre score and is described as the musical that Chekov, Lena Dunham and Aretha Franklin would’ve written. It brings together gospel, bluegrass, soul, Memphis blues with show stopping anthems. Based on the novel, the Ugliest Pilgrim, by US writer Doris Betts, the musical premiered Off-Broadway in 1997 and won the Drama Critics’ Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award as Best Musical.
Hayes Theatre Co will host Violet through 27 November till 13 December with direction by Mitchell Butel, icon of the Australian Theatre and three time Helpmann Award winner; with Musical Direction by Lucy Bermingham (Strictly Ballroom, Guilty Pleasures); Choreography by Amy Campbell (Guilty Pleasures, So You Think You Can Dance); Set Design by Simon Greer (Man of La Mancha); and produced by Blue Saint Productions.
The NY Daily has affirms that when “a show works it tugs you insistently into its universe”. In agreement the Huffington Post asks how, when “it is so very good one wonders how Violet could have been overlooked for so long”? Make sure you’re not one to miss out on this truly fantastic tale.
BLUE SAINT PRODUCTIONS in association with HAYES THEATRE CO proudly present VIOLET
Hayes Theatre Co 19 Greenknowe Ave Potts Point
Dates: 27 November to 20 December 2015
Times: Tuesday to Saturday at 8pm Saturday at 2pm Sunday at 3pm and 7pm
Tickets: Adult $54 Concession $49
Bookings: www.hayestheatre.com.au or phone 02 8065 7337
Website: www.violetthemusical.com.au
Running time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes – No intermission
*including booking fees
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