Violet

Music by Jeanine Tesori, Book & Lyrics by Brian Crawley
Directed, Choreographed, and Designed by Skylar Fox
Musical Forum, Production Workshop, 2014

Musical Director: Michael Weisman
Costume Design: Alex M. Lee
Lighting Design: Ben Chesler
Sound Design: Aaron Whitman

Performed by Ellen Zahneiser, Stephen Bozier, Jason Connor, Sarah Black, Jesse Weil, Evan Silver, Georgia Wright, Andrew Ganem, Hannah Margolin, Becca Millstein, & Justinn Harris

1949: Violet is ten. She lives alone with her father in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. One day, the blade of his axe comes loose and flies off, striking her in the face.

1964: Violet’s father has died, and Violet gets a television for the first time. She sees a televangelist healing people. She decides she’s going to go see this televangelist in Tulsa, and have her face healed.

The Greyhound bus trip through the American south of the 1960s that follows is a journey both epic and myopic in scale, as Violet confronts ideas of body image, race, religion, and violence in her attempt to make peace with a piece of herself. Based on a short story by Doris Betts, the author of “Beast of the Southern Wild,” VIOLET is an award-winning musical with a beautiful score that combines folk, blues, country, and gospel music to tell a story about love and identity in a country in turmoil.