SpeakEasy Stage to Present VIOLET; Performances Begin in January

From January 9 to February 6, 2016, SpeakEasy Stage Company will present the New England Premiere of the recent Broadway version of the acclaimed musical VIOLET.

Featuring a powerful folk, rock, and gospel score, VIOLET tells the story of a young North Carolina woman named Violet who travels by bus across the South in 1964 to see a faith-healer she hopes will transform her life. Along the way, she forms unlikely friendships with her fellow passengers, and learns that it's the journeys you take in life that help you discover who you are.

VIOLET was the first musical by composer Jeanine Tesori, who won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Original Score for her work on Fun Home. Her other Broadway credits include the musicals Caroline, or Change (2004 Tony nomination for Best Original Score); Shrek the Musical (Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for her music); and Thoroughly Modern Millie (2000). She is the Founding Artistic Director of Encores! Off-Center at New York City Center and is a lecturer in music at Yale University.

Brian Crawley won the Kleban Award for his lyrics and book for VIOLET, which was first mounted Off-Broadway in 1997 by Playwrights Horizons. That production also received the Richard Rodgers Musical Production Award, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. Brian also wrote the book and lyrics for A Little Princess with composer Andrew Lippa and Down There with composer Lewis Flinn.

VIOLET is based on the short story "The Ugliest Pilgrim" by Doris Betts (1932-2012). Ms. Betts published six novels and three collections of short stories during her lifetime, including The Scarlet Thread, Tall House in Winter, The Astronomer and Other Stories, and Beasts of the Southern Wild and Other Stories. She was born in Pittsboro, North Carolina, and taught literature and creative writing at the University of North Carolina for 30 years.

SpeakEasy's Founder and Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault will direct this new version of VIOLET, having directed the company's production of the Off-Broadway version of the musical in February of 2000. Mr. Daigneault's most recent SpeakEasy directing credits include Mothers & Sons, Big Fish, The Color Purple, In the Heights, and Next to Normal. He is also on the faculty at The Boston Conservatory.

IRNE Award nominee Matthew Stern will serve as music director, and IRNE Award-winner David Connolly will choreograph.

Boston Conservatory graduate Alison McCartan will return to SpeakEasy to play the title role of Violet. Ms. McCartan appeared last fall as Daphna in SpeakEasy's acclaimed production of Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon. She also understudied and went on as Janet Van de Graaf in SpeakEasy's award-winning production of The Drowsy Chaperone. Other credits include: National Tour: Shrek the Musical (NETworks Presentations). Regional: Dames at Sea, Steel Magnolias, 42nd Street (The Wick Theatre); A Chorus Line (Weston Playhouse); Next to Normal, This is Our Youth (Hangar Theatre); The Rocky Horror Show (The Ordway).

Ms. McCartan will be joined by Nile Scott Hawver as Monty and Daniel Belnavis as Flick. Popular Boston actors John F. King, Carolyn Saxon, and Kathy St. George are also featured in the cast, along with Tyla Collier, Patrick Greeley, Audree Hedequist, Stephen Markarian, and Michael Mendiola.

The design team includes Eric Levenson (scenic), Charles Schoonmaker (costumes), Karen Perlow (lighting), David Remedios (sound), and Lisa Guild (props).

VIOLET will run for five weeks, from January 9 to February 6, in the Virginia Wimberly Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston's South End. Ticket prices start at $25, with discounts for students, seniors, and persons age 25 and under. For tickets or more information, the public is invited to call 617-933-8600 or visit www.SpeakEasyStage.com.

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