Review: VIOLET at The Kranzberg Blackbox

VIOLET is a musical based on the gothic short story "The Ugliest Pilgrim" by Doris Betts. The score blends musical styles of folk, bluegrass, blues and gospel in a near operetta format to tell the story of a young North Carolina woman who was injured as a young child in an accident with an axe. Violet is forced to live her entire life with a horrific disfiguring scar on one side of her face. When the musical opens, Violet boards a Greyhound Bus headed for Tulsa, OK to see if a televangelist faith healer can rid of her ugly scar.

Originally produced in 1997, the book and lyrics for VIOLET were written by Bryan Crawley with a score by four-time Tony nominee Jeanine Tessori. While Tessori's score for VIOLET is not one of her more memorable scores, it is certainly makes for pleasant listening during an evening in the theatre. But, like the lead character VIOLET, the show has a big disfiguring scar, Crawley's book and lyrics do not tell a compelling story.

While the source material is subpar, director Bekah Harbison uses simple staging with minimal set pieces to focus the audience on the relationships between the characters. Through her collaboration with her actors, she extracts committed and emotional performances out of each member of the cast. Her blocking, coupled with Mary Fedak's choreography, uses every inch of the floor (stage) in the theater adding to the intimacy of her vision. There are moments when the entire company fills the full performance space, and it almost seems uncomfortably cramped. There may have been an opportunity to edit and think through the limitations of the space and the number of chorus members used in some of the larger numbers.

Mia Michelle Millican as VIOLET carries the show with her grandiose voice. Millican proves that she has the vocal prowess and acting chops to lead a production. She believably conveys to the audience, without makeup or visual effect, that VIOLET is horribly disfigured leaving her face nearly impossible to look at. The range of emotions she expresses allows the audience to empathize with VIOLET's pain, sadness, and her naive optimism that a phony televangelist is the answer to a miraculous transformation to heal her gruesome scar.

This company backing Millican is at its best when singing together. Sarah Vlodek's vocal direction creates stellar vocal arrangements for the cast, especially in their delivery of the gospel inspired songs in the score. Tammy Jennings delivers the most memorable number of the night leading the company and raising the rafters on "Raise Me Up." Shane Rudolph, Lauren Werkmeister, and Michelle Werkmeister's voices blend beautifully as the radio trio when singing "Who'll Be the One (If Not Me).

All the actors deliver their best efforts and fully commit to their roles both in acting and singing, but there were several times when actors struggled with pitch and tone and delivered a flat vocal performance. The limitations of some of the singing voices were immediately apparent during their solos. Only one of the actors appeared to be wearing a microphone and there were times during the performance that some of the libretto was lost due to an inability to project.

Pit Director and Conductor Mallory Golden and her band's performance is one of the biggest reasons to see Over Due Theatre Company's production of VIOLET. The members of the band, Michael Blackwood on violin, Devin Smith on guitar, Matthew Kaularich on keyboard, and Bradley Rohlf on Percussion join Golden on Bass, Mandolin and Harmonica to greet the audience with infectious preshow folk music. The band does not miss a beat when delivering the score to accompany the actors. Golden's leadership provides a perfectly balanced accompaniment in the small space that is the Kranzberg Blackbox Theatre.

This energetic cast labors to deliver a spirited performance. Harbison and Golden get as much out of their company as individual talent and the source material will allow. While far from a perfect show, Over Due Theatre Company's production of VIOLET has moments that are particularly good. This is a production that should be seen for the performance of the Mia Michelle Millican, the band, the company overall, and Bekah Harbison's directorial vision. The Over Due Theatre Company is presenting Violet through April 8th at the Kranzberg Blackbox Theater in the Grand Arts District in St. Louis.

Photo Credit: Alex Brooks

To post a comment, you must register and login.