Richard Greenberg's Comic Fantasy THE VIOLET HOUR Plays The Roxy Regional Theatre This Month

With its latest mainstage production, Clarksville's oldest professional live theatre poses the question, "If you had the chance to see your future, would you take it?"

Drawing its title from the words of one of its characters -- who defines the violet hour as "that wonderful New York hour when the evening's about to reward you for the day... the violet light you walk between that hastens you places" -- Richard Greenberg's The Violet Hour, a sophisticated comic fantasy about fate, ambition and time, opens at the Roxy Regional Theatre on Thursday, March 9, at 7:00pm.

As the play begins, set on the cusp of the Jazz Age on April 1st, 1919, the young independent publisher John Pace Seavering (played by Alex Stompoly) is setting up his office: a couple of dilapidated rooms in a romantic Manhattan tower. With only enough capital to put out one book, John finds himself besieged by two authors: his best friend and his lover.

Denny McCleary (played by Johnny Kroll), John's brash and gifted college friend, has produced a manuscript so unruly it lives in a trio of crates. Denny has a surprise imperative: He's fallen in love with the enchanting heiress Rosamund Plinth (played by Jennifer Workman), and if John doesn't agree to publish his book today, he'll lose her forever.

But John is also being strenuously lobbied by Jessie Brewster (played by Ebony Strong), the popular Black jazz singer who is also John's very secret mistress. She has written her memoirs and is determined to have her story known.

Meanwhile, a machine of mysterious provenance and purpose has arrived and is spewing out stacks of pages predicting the future of the publisher and everyone else while John's hapless assistant, Gidger (played by David Graham), strives vainly to stem the flood. What's written on these pages will throw John's every hope and plan into disarray.

Written by Richard Greenberg and directed by Ryan Bowie with intimacy choreography by Emily Ruck, The Violet Hour is presented through special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York, www.dramatists.com.

Performances run March 9 through March 18 on Thursdays at 7:00pm and Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, with a 2:00pm matinee on Saturday, March 18. In keeping with the theatre's pay-what-you-can opening night tradition, all tickets not pre-sold at the regular price will go on sale at 6:30pm on Thursday, March 9, for a $5 minimum donation.

Tickets are $30 (adults) and $15 (10 and under) and may be reserved online at www.roxyregionaltheatre.org, by phone at (931) 645-7699, or at the theatre during regular box office hours (9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday, and one hour prior to curtain).

Military can receive two tickets for the price of one to Thursday and Saturday 8:00pm performances during the run, while CitySaver coupon holders can receive two tickets for the price of one to Friday performances. Austin Peay State University students can receive two tickets for the price of one to Thursday performances and take advantage of $10 APSU Student Rush tickets, available at the door ten minutes prior to all performances.

HEALTH AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS: While not required in the 40th Anniversary Season, we welcome and encourage masks for all patrons and visitors. The Roxy Regional Theatre reserves the right to change this COVID-19 policy at any time and will communicate any necessary changes electronically or in person.

The Roxy Regional Theatre (Roxy Productions, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to producing professional live theatre and promoting the arts, with emphasis on education, in Clarksville, Middle Tennessee and the Southeast. The theatre is located at 100 Franklin Street in Historic Downtown Clarksville. For more information, visit www.roxyregionaltheatre.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.