Violet announced for Hayes Theatre in 2015

Violet, with book and lyrics by Brian Crawley (A Little Princess) and music by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Caroline or Change), will find a home at Sydney’s Hayes Theatre Co in November 2015.

Based on the short story “The Ugliest Pilgrim” by Doris Betts, Violet tells the story of a young disfigured woman who embarks on a journey by bus from Spruce Pine, North Carolina, all the way to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to find the preacher she believes can heal her.

Violet focuses on a search for beauty amidst the image obsessed landscape and racial tensions of the American South in the 1960s. Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Violet and her fellow travelers might find the answer.

Tesori  holds the most Tony nominations for composition of any female composer (she’s also the only female composer to have been nominated multiple times) and she has brought to Violet show-stopping anthems, American roots, soul, and gospel.

And this Australian production will be directed by Mitchell Butel, a three-time Helpmann Award winner who has starred in Avenue Q, The Venetian Twins, and Angels in America, among many others. His cabaret show Killing Time played the Hayes in 2014.

Violet will also feature Musical Direction by Lucy Bermingham (Strictly Ballroom, Guilty Pleasures), choreography by Amy Campbell (Guilty Pleasures, So You Think You Can Dance), and set design by Simon Greer (Man of La Mancha).

Violet, produced by Blue Saint Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co, will run from Friday 27 November – Sunday 13 December 2015. For tickets and more information, visit the Hayes Theatre website.