Violet, Starring Tony Winner Sutton Foster, Will Play Broadway in March 2014

By Carey Purcell
25 Nov 2013

Sutton Foster in Violet.
Sutton Foster in Violet.
Photo by Joan Marcus

Two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster will star in the Broadway premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley's award-winning 1997 musical Violet, about a disfigured young woman on a cross-country journey seeking transformation through faith.

Presented by Roundabout Theatre Company and directed by Leigh Silverman, Violet, featuring music by Tesori and book and lyrics by Crawley, will begin performances March 28, 2014, at the American Airlines Theatre. The production will officially open April 20, 2014.

This production is based on the 2013 New York City Center Encores! Off-Center production of Violet, which starred Foster and was directed by Silverman. Violet first 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."



The full cast will be announced at a later date.

Foster, a two-time Tony Award winner, has starred on Broadway in Anything Goes, Shrek the Musical, Young Frankenstein, Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Her TV work has included "Bunheads," "Psych" and "Flight of the Conchords."

Click here to read Playbill.com's interview with Foster about the Encores! Off Center production of Violet.

Violet will feature choreography by Jeffrey Page and original orchestrations by Joseph Joubert and Buryl Red. Michael Rafter is music director.

The creative team includes David Zinn (sets), Clint Ramos (costumes), Mark Barton (lights) and Leon Rothenberg (sound).

Visit roundabouttheatre.org for more information. 

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Sutton Foster and Joshua Henry
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN