Customer Reviews

Violet (1998 Original Off-Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

so naturally, I love this album. Produced by Playwrights Horizons in NYC, I saw Violet four times while I was working at the theatre. About the musical: Violet is a girl in her mid-20s whose face has been scarred by an axe blade. She travels from her home in North Carolina to visit a televangelist/preacher in Oklahoma who claims to be able to heal people. She meets a couple of Army guys along the way, and... This musical is about the healing of the spirit, sung in everything from gospel to bluegrass to the blues.

Lauren Ward has the most beautiful voice. Her temperament and richness fit Violet perfectly. My mom's favorite is Michael McElroy as Flick conveys soul unheard of in "Let it Sing," and Robert Westenberg (Into the Woods, The Secret Garden, Sunday in the Park with George)is funny and touching as the preacher.

This show ran off-Broadway for 6 weeks and has popped up in Seattle and Philadelphia recently. I you haven't seen this show, listening to this CD will make you feel like you're there.

Like many reviewers, I am reviewing this after I had the sheer joy of performing it (I was Flick). Boy would I love to perform Flick again but I won't and you know why? Because this is one of those unfairly neglected gems that this so obscure and the mainstream musical theater audience really has no wind of it.

And I can understand why. Violet doesn't follow the popular musical theater formula. First off, it's based on a very serious and what some would call "dark" premise. It's about a woman in 1964 on her way to see a televangelist peacher so he can heal her of a terrible scar she received as a little girl. Second, Violet's music is glorious, but quite varied in style. One song will be a country ballad, the next, what sounds like Tina Turner should be singing, and the next, R&B, and the next, a soul gripping gospel number. That in itself may sway some listeners.

But let me tell you, the ending and THE MESSAGE that this musical sends is worth it all. It's so unusual in the the way it takes you this journey, that you become so compelled to feel for each of this characters.

To continue with it's premise, Violet meets along her way two friend soldiers: one black (Flick), one white (Monty). Violet and these soldiers learn to find affection in one another and an unusual love triangle forms as the soldiers fall for Violet (Monty openly, Flick secretly) where feelings are hurt and love is found. The audience is also unclear as in the beginning when the story seems understandable and innocent enough, the second act presents race and sex issues. However, the themes can be universally understood and appreciated.

Michael Elroy, Flick, is absolutely wonderful and perfect for the role. His hefty and sultry baritone has just a beautiful middle range and can do remarkable vocal feats as he flies to remarkably beautiful and sustained A's and B's, and one fantastic high falsetto Eb! Michael Park has the absolutely perfect country southern boy quality for Monty. His rendition of "You're Different" is so sentimental and poignant and just hits the spot. And his acting training is clearly evident. Lauren Ward stole the show and it sounds as if the role was written for her. I don't think she could be a show that fit her talents more perfectly. And what a great vehicle for her to learn her career on. She's a mezzo with a very healthy belt as well as a trained head voice all the way to a great F at the top of the staff.

The music is just beautiful and touching. "On My Way" is the central musical number as it ties up the themes so perfectly. The recording simply will not leave you bored as it is surprising with every track as new styles are infused and great acting compels you.

Violet has fast become one of my most played musical theatre cds this year. Tesori and Crawley have created a moving, emotional musical journey with this touching story of a young girls search for outer and inner healing. With stunning vocal performances from Lauren Ward (Exactly Like You, 1776), Michael Park (Smokey Joe's Cafe, Little Me) and Robert Westenberg (Into the Woods, The Secret Garden), and especially Michael McElroy, this score captures the color and flavor of the 1960's mid South using bluegrass, gospel and traditional musical theare idioms. Along with Jason Robert Brown (Songs for a New World, Parade), Michael John LaChuissa (Hello Again, Marie Christine) and Adam Guettal (Floyd Collins, Myths and Hymns), Tesori and Crawley are leading the way for the musical theatre of the next century.

This is a glorious, touching, sweet, bitter, above all, humane musical. I bought it on a whim, and I've listened to it at least 10 times over the past 5 days. Highly recommended.

Some of the best things to say about this musical are what it doesn't do. It never gets maudlin. It never reaches for an easy cliché. It never stereotypes its characters, be they young idealistic country girls, Army soldiers, TV evangelists, or even streetwalkers. This is a musical written with confidence. It has confidence enough to mix gospel and blues with country and rock, and bring melody to even the most unlikely scenarios: a bus trip ("On My Way"), a trip to the candy stand ("M&Ms"), even a poker game ("Luck of the Draw"). It has confidence in its main character to give her all the idealism, irascibility, and flaws that make a real person fascinating. It has confidence enough in its audience to hold its best song, "Bring Me to Light," until the very end. But to keep that audience happy until then, it offers beautiful songs like "Lay Down Your Head" and "Raise Me Up," with incredible lyrics like "I could shine like a moonbeam / on the silk of a ball gown" (from "All to Pieces"). Sure, you can pretty much guess the ending before the bus even pulls out of Spruce Pine. But you'll stick around, because this is a funny, touching, uplifting, wonderful ride.

Triumphant and successful, Jeanine Tesori's VIOLET soars. The music is phenomenal. Gospel, upbeat, beautiful and touching songs make this a Broadway lover's favorite album. If you love sitting down at night to read while listening to a Broadway album, VIOLET is the one!
A touching story, VIOLET is for all.

I am coming upon my third time performing in this show and I have never gotten sick of this music (which is saying something since I'm not a big fan of listening to showtunes). Like the very first reviewer, I was along with the high school cast who took it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and have great memories with this show.

A touching story with timeless issues of race and struggling with your own self-image. It's about learning how to play with the cards that fate gives you. You may have a winning hand, a winning smile, but as this musical shows, even if you're dealt a poor hand, you can still succeed as long as you put all your chips and all your heart into the hand you have.

I've had the honor of working on the original production in 1997 in New York, and it's remained one of my favorite shows ever since. Lauren Ward truly brings Violet to life, even on CD; from her inspiring "Surprised" to her heartbreaking "Raise Me Up/Look at Me", you feel not just with her, but for her as she goes through her phyical and spiritual journey.

Some of the original cast members aren't on the CD (Roz Ryan, for example), but I've seen two other productions of Violet, and this is still the definitive recording.

I always cry at the end (tears of happiness), even years later. It's that good.

Several years before Millie Dillmount stepped off a bus and into Manhattan as part of her journey to become Thoroughly Modern, a young woman named Violet stepped onto a Greyhound bus headed for Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Thus begins the story of Violet, the Off-Broadway show with music by Jeanine Tesori, and book & lyrics by Brian Crawley. Ms. Tesori is now best-known for her work on the score of Thoroughly Modern Millie, but Violet is a soft-spoken gem from 1998 that more clearly defines her potential.

Based on Doris Betts's story, "The Ugliest Pilgrim", Violet follows the journey of a young woman on her pilgrimage to see a televangelist in Oklahoma. Violet's face was terribly scarred in an accident when she was 13; now 25, she is convinced that the televangelist, channeling God, can provide her with a new face.

Most of the story is spent with Violet on her journey, with frequent flashbacks and split scenes filling in the details of how the accident occurred, how blame was laid, and how 12 years of feeling ugly shaped Violet into the woman on the bus. Along the way, Violet also attracts the attention of two soldiers (Flick and Monty) on their way to assignments in Arkansas. Both are interested in her, and Violet explores friendships with both, but she is determined to see the preacher in Tulsa and won't abandon her quest for anyone.

The score for Violet is deeply grounded in country, gospel and blues music, set as it is in the bible belt, 1964. This recording features the Broadway Gospel Choir for the scenes in Oklahoma, and they add great weight and power to "Raise Me Up", the musical's rousing gospel number.

Jeanine Tesori has provided us with a score that could probably be used as a textbook example of musical theatre form; she introduces several themes used to represent concepts and feelings, which appear and re-appear in different contexts throughout the piece, delivered by different people in slightly different ways. The score represents the cycle of a journey and cleverly leaves us in the same place it begins, but with a totally different emphasis brought to the same musical phrases. The simultaneous existence of Violet in two different time frames is used to great effect, where incredible strength of emotion is presented by having the older and younger Violets performing together to illustrate how events in her past connect Violet to her current state of mind. Not content to leave that as her only device, the score also makes judicious use of "Joe Q Public" to echo the sentiments of the main characters: other passengers on the bus and residents of the cities visited respond indirectly to main themes, purposely elevating the emotional journey to a level with which we can all relate. In addition, Ms. Tesori and Mr. Crawley are unafraid of toying with traditional melodic and lyrical conventions, using various tricks to tease you into thinking rhymes and melodies are predictable before taking them on unexpected turns.

Performances on the recording are consistently strong. As Violet, Lauren Ward projects the kind of awkward confidence one expects from someone who builds a personal shield to hide internal pain. Amanda Posner portrays Young Vi, and the sense of connection between the older and younger versions of Violet, though aided to great extent by the score, is immediate. In rare instances where Ms. Posner and Ms. Ward sing together, the combination is both eerie and deeply moving. As the two soldiers, Michael McElroy (Flick) and Michael Park (Monty) are well contrasted: both voices exhibit exquisite warmth when required. Robert Westenberg makes an irritatingly good southern Baptist preacher; Stephen Lee Anderson provides a meaty portrayal of Violet's father - tortured with guilt over the accident that scarred his daughter, frustrated at her anger, and endearing in his expressions of love for Violet.

As an aside, one of the most interesting aspects of this recording are the current "big names" buried in the cast list as additional performers, used especially for the recording: Darius De Haas, Brian D'Arcy James, Tracy Nicole Chapman, John Treacy Egan, Norm Lewis, Christiane Noll, and several others have all lent their voices to the CD. Most are members of the Broadway Gospel Choir, which was conceived and is directed by Michael McElroy (Flick).

Individually, the score and performances are strong; together they soar. The first half of the score serves as setup, it seems, for after Violet meets the preacher in Oklahoma for her healing, many of the same melodies are reprised in a sweeping torrent that carries you to the musical's hopeful, uplifting conclusion. Melodies like those presented "Water In The Well" and "On My Way" will hook you; "M&Ms" and "Luck of the Draw" will attract smiles; "Lay Down Your Head", "Promise Me, Violet", "Look At Me" and "That's What I Could Do" add emotional weight to the mix. In concert, the result is a recording that will wrap you up in its sincerity and leave you feeling exhilarated and painfully human. This recording is best experienced after having read through the synopsis, as the jumps between characters and places may be hard to follow without the aid of some background.

It's a shame that the score for Violet is not better known, because I think it's a fantastic score. The musical seems to be on its way to becoming something of a "sleeper hit", though, with regional and community productions all over North America winning rave reviews. Even if you are not a fan of country, gospel or blues music, you'll find a lot to like about Violet.

I love this show. This cd is FABULOUS! The technical aspect of the music is amazing with difficult harmonies, songwriting, timing etc...it all is blended SO well together for an amazing goose-pimpling experience. If you haven't heard of this show and want to be awed, listen to the music and you'll want to run to the theater to get a seat. no disappointments at all!