Two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster (Anything Goes, Thoroughly Modern Millie) returns to Roundabout in the highly anticipated Broadway debut of Violet, following the acclaimed concert performance at City Center Encores! Off-Center. Winner of the Drama Critics' Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical when it premiered Off-Broadway, Violet features music by Tony nominee Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change, Fun Home) and book and lyrics by Brian Crawley (A Little Princess). Leigh Silverman (Chinglish, Well) directs.
Since every other song is geared to bring down the house, it's a surprise the American Airlines Theatre still stands. Several spare but lovely melodies continue to run through Tesori's music; one thing that the original Violet had going for it was simplicity, and the composer didn't overreach with a big Rosa's Turn the way she did with the eleven o'clock numbers in her subsequent shows Caroline, or Change and Fun Home. Some of that unadorned lyrical beauty remains in Violet's ballads, nicely sung by Sutton Foster. She succeeds in not competing with the showbiz brashness surrounding her, although the actress's signature can-do spunk doesn't always jibe with Violet's self-image. Perhaps that little inconsistency doesn't matter. The generic hillbilly twang that everyone sports is just make believe. Give these country folks a song, and they can't help but turn into Broadway babies.
Much of 'Violet' takes places on a bus, which lends itself to a minimalist staging with just a few chairs. The flashbacks should be simple, too. But once Violet and her GIs exit the bus, this production (which is designed by David Zinn) can't decide how (or whether) to build on its initial, simple style. The set expands and contracts. Some of the onstage musicians don robes and join a gospel choir. But you never really feel the pull of place, or of a lost time, nor the comforts of a well-defined imagined world. Foster throws herself into this unglamorous role, her face pale and her body propelled into a world of no self-confidence. It is a very honorable performance, filled with craft. Foster never condescends, and she clearly enjoys her character's intelligence, although she, too, struggles toward the end with the need for climax and consequence.
1997 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
2014 | Broadway |
Roundabout Production Broadway |
2019 | West End |
London Premiere at Charing Cross Theatre West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Sutton Foster |
2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Joshua Henry |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Sutton Foster |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Joshua Henry |
2014 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Violet |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Sutton Foster |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Joshua Henry |
2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Violet |
2014 | Theatre World Awards | Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance | Emerson Steele |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | Leigh Silverman |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Joshua Henry |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Sutton Foster |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Ted Shen |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Mary Jo Shen |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Elizabeth Armstrong |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Fran Weissler |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Barry Weissler |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | David Mirvish |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Daniel Palladino |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Amy Sherman-Palladino |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Sydney Beers |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Julia C. Levy |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Harold Wolpert |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Todd Haimes |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Roundabout Theatre Company |
2014 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Violet |
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