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.
[Foster] sings, 'I am on my way.' Buckle your seatbelts, folks. So are you. And what a wonderful trip it is...Songs by composer Jeanine Tesori and lyricist Brian Crawley add dimensions and textures, too. Summoning country-fried rhythms, gospel glory, bittersweet ballads and tender lullabies, the score is a rich and beautiful thing. Well-integrated too. Numbers make perfect sense and fuel characters and the plot like high-test gasoline...This journey unfolds a half-century ago, but you don't have to look far to see that the idea that life can change dramatically and devastatingly in a flash. What you do next becomes the question - and it makes this Violet evergreen.
Some musicals are big and brassy, calling out for attention with their razzle-dazzle and sassy sets. Others are more demure, letting their simple beauty shine. How appropriate then that a show about inner loveliness chose the latter path...Violet is a reminder - if we have already forgotten the power of Once - that a Broadway musical has to hit your heart as much as be visually pretty. A recent preview of Violet left some in the audience crying and smiling. And that's with a show that has actors simply bumping up and down on chairs to recreate a bus trip...It's not too hard to figure out that a show about a woman who thinks she's repulsive will ultimately deal with issues of beauty and the nature of love. It does, but it also explores guilt and belief, proving there's a lot you can do when you have great songs, wonderful singers and keep it simple.
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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