NewsViolet Hops Off the Bus: Musical Starring Sutton Foster and Joshua Henry Plays Final Performance Aug. 10The Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway production of Violet, starring two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster, plays its final performance at the American Airlines Theatre Aug. 10 at 2 PM.
By
Carey Purcell
August 10, 2014
The production officially opened April 20 following previews that began March 28. Upon closing, Violetplayed 27 previews and 128 regular performances.
Directed by Leigh Silverman and featuring music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Brian Crawley, Violet is based on Doris Betts' short story "The Ugliest Pilgrim."
Donnell, whose stage credits include Anything Goes, Jersey Boysand Love's Labour's Lost, plays Monty. Henry returns to the role of Flick, which he played in the 2013 Encores! Off-Center production of Violet. Henry's stage work also includes The Scottsboro Boys,Porgy and BessandAmerican Idiot. Read Donnell and Henry's interview with Playbill.com about playing the leading men in Violet.
Foster and Henry received Tony Award nominations for their performances as Violet and Flick, respectively, and Silverman was nominated for Best Director of a Musical. The production was also nominated for Best Revival of a Musical.
Levi Kreis, who won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a musical for his Broadway debut, playing Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet, joined the company June 27.
The Broadway premiere is based on the 2013 New York City Center Encores! Off-Center production, which starred Foster and was directed by Silverman. Violet premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in 1997; it won the Obie Award, Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical.
"Violet tells the story of a young woman’s quest for beauty amidst the image-obsessed landscape of the 1960s," according to the Roundabout. "Facially disfigured in a childhood accident, Violet (Foster) dreams of a miraculous transformation through the power of faith. Convinced that a televangelist in Oklahoma can heal her, she hops a Greyhound bus and starts the journey of a lifetime. Along the way, Violet forms unlikely friendships with her fellow riders, who teach her about beauty, love, courage and what it means to be an outsider."