Casting Complete for Theater Latte Da’a VIOLET; Azudi Onyejekwe Joins Cast

Theater Latté Da today announced that Azudi Onyejekwe will join the cast of Violet in the role of Flick, the young black soldier who teaches Violet (played by Children's Theatre Company childhood star Britta Ollmann) about beauty, courage and what it means to be an outsider. A recent graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, Onyejekwe makes his Twin Cities theater debut in the production, directed by Peter Rothstein and featuring a score by Tony Award nominee Jeanine Tesori, the composer whose music brought Tony Kushner's book and lyrics for Caroline, or Change to life. Onyejekwe's musical credits also include Pippin, Into the Woods, Jesus Christ Superstar and, most recently, Once On This Island at the Cortland Repertory Theatre in upstate New York.

Violet, based on The Ugliest Pilgrim, a short story by Southern writer Doris Betts, won the Obie Award, New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical when it premiered Off-Broadway in 1997. Set against the backdrop of the Deep South in the early days of the civil rights movement, Violet is an uplifting musical about a physically and emotionally scarred young woman, and her journey to find a cure.

Single tickets start at $18 and are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at (612) 377-2224, toll-free 877-44-STAGE, (612) 225-6244 (Group Sales) and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

Theater Latté Da is a Twin Cities theater company recognized for its ability to connect artists, audiences and communities through diverse stories that are both entertaining and enlightening. The company seeks to create new connections between story, music, artists and audience by exploring and expanding the art of musical theater. The 12th season also included the hit musical The Full Monty at the Ordway Center McKnight Theatre, October 15-November 8, 2009, and the return of the new holiday classic, All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 at the Pantages Theatre, December 17-20, 2009. For more information, visit www.latteda.org.

The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is an American center for theater performance, production, education and professional training. The Guthrie is dedicated to producing the great works of dramatic literature, developing the work of contemporary playwrights and cultivating the next generation of theater artists. Led by Director Joe Dowling since 1995, the Guthrie opened a new three-theater home on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in June 2006.

The Guthrie is located at 818 South 2nd Street (at Chicago Avenue), in downtown Minneapolis. To purchase tickets or season subscriptions call the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224 or toll-free 877.44.STAGE. For more information, or to purchase tickets online, visit www.guthrietheater.org.

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