The cast featured two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster in the title role with Joshua Henry, Van Hughes, Austin Lesch, Anastacia McCleskey, Keala Settle, Christopher Sieber, Emerson Steele, Chris Sullivan, Rema Webb and Paul Whitty as well as the gospel choir, Songs of Solomon.
Leigh Silverman directed with music direction by Michael Rafter.
Violet, based on the short story "The Ugliest Pilgrim" by Doris Betts, has music by Tesori and book and lyrics by Crawley. The show, according to press notes, "follows a young woman who embarks on a religious pilgrimage in hopes of being healed of her disfiguring scar and features a score filled with gospel, country, rock, rhythm and blues." Violet opened Off-Broadway for a limited run at Playwrights Horizons on March 11, 1997.
Encores! Off-Center, under the artistic direction of Tesori, opened with Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Sam Gold and choreographed by Chase Brock. The series will conclude with Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford’s I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, July 24-27.
Tickets for I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road can be purchased online at NYCityCenter.org, by calling CityTix at (212) 581-1212, or at the City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). The majority of tickets for all Encores! Off Center productions are $25.
