Two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster (Anything Goes, Thoroughly Modern Millie) returns to Roundabout in the highly anticipated Broadway debut of Violet, following the acclaimed concert performance at City Center Encores! Off-Center. Winner of the Drama Critics' Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical when it premiered Off-Broadway, Violet features music by Tony nominee Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change, Fun Home) and book and lyrics by Brian Crawley (A Little Princess). Leigh Silverman (Chinglish, Well) directs.
Much of 'Violet' takes places on a bus, which lends itself to a minimalist staging with just a few chairs. The flashbacks should be simple, too. But once Violet and her GIs exit the bus, this production (which is designed by David Zinn) can't decide how (or whether) to build on its initial, simple style. The set expands and contracts. Some of the onstage musicians don robes and join a gospel choir. But you never really feel the pull of place, or of a lost time, nor the comforts of a well-defined imagined world. Foster throws herself into this unglamorous role, her face pale and her body propelled into a world of no self-confidence. It is a very honorable performance, filled with craft. Foster never condescends, and she clearly enjoys her character's intelligence, although she, too, struggles toward the end with the need for climax and consequence.
Those expecting to see Sutton Foster belting and tap-dancing her way through her latest Broadway leading-role should be warned: the 39-year-old actress, who won Tonys for her turns in Thoroughly Modern Millie and Anything Goes, provides a restrained, intricate performance in Violet, the Jeanine Tesori-Brian Crawley musical now open at the American Airlines Theatre...It's hard to believe Violet was Testori's first musical, as her score is rich with complex melodies and delicate themes. A blend of country, gospel, blues and bluegrass, Tesori's music pay tribute to the best of the American roots. Crawley's lyrics are pure poetry, utilizing the plain-spoken language of the time to create beautiful illustrations of the difference between perception and reality...For Broadway, book writer Crawley has cut Violet from a two-act play into a one-act. At nearly two hours without intermission, Foster never leaves the stage. This is Violet's story, and Violet wouldn't dare let anyone else tell it. Which is good, because you'll fall in love with Foster so wholeheartedly, you won't want her to leave anytime soon.
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