The Dio to Present VIOLET, 4/3-5/17

The Dio - Dining & Entertainment, Livingston County's only professional dinner theatre, is very excited to produce the beautiful, and rarely produced musical, Violet.

Winner of the Drama Critics' Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical when it premiered off-Broadway, Violet features a score of show-stopping anthems ranging from American-roots to folk to gospel from one of most vibrant composers of modern musical theatre - Jeanine Tesori (Caroline Or Change, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek). With its powerful story Violet has astounded critics and audiences alike making it one of the most acclaimed off-Broadway shows of the '90s. The show was recently revived for a Broadway run starring Tony Award winner, Sutton Foster, in the lead role.

As a girl, Violet was in an accident, leaving her with a visible scar across her face. With enough money finally saved she's traveling across the 1964 Deep South towards a miracle - the healing touch of a TV evangelist that will make her beautiful. On the way she meets a young soldier whose love for her reaches far past her physical "imperfections".

With its immaculately crafted, multi-genre score whose lyrics and book are from the fantastic Brian Crawley (A Little Princess), Violet is a powerhouse piece of theatre capable of taking an audience's breath away.

The cast of Violet features top notch Michigan talent including Wilde Award winning performers Mahalia Greenway (Violet), Steve DeBruyne (Monty) and Linda Rabin Hammell (Old Lady). The show will also star Luther Raphael Simon as Flick. Luther's many credits include the Hamburg, Germany cast of Disney's The Lion King where he starred as Mufasa. In addition, the show features the talents of Maeve Donevan, Lily Rosenberg, Andrew Gorney, Peter Crist, Tyler Smith, Lauren Norris, Kirsten Crockett and Jeff Steinhauer.

All tickets include The Dio's dinner buffet, a non-alcoholic beverage, dessert and the show. The menu for Violet will include fresh, homemade bread sticks, house salad, fresh fruit salad tossed in a mint and citrus dressing, seasoned broccoli sautéed in olive oil, jambalaya with rice and chef's choice of protein, and The Dio's signature boneless chicken breast, hand battered and fried to a golden brown.

Performances take place at The Dio, 177 E. Main Street, Pinckney Michigan, 48169 from April 3 through May 17, Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sunday afternoons. There will be one Thursday evening performance on April 2, and one Thursday matinee on May 14. There will be no performance on Easter Sunday, April 5.

Tickets for all performances are available now and may be purchased by visiting diotheatre.com or by calling (517) 672-6009.