Violet at Encores

I'm getting home from Violet tonight and had an enjoyable evening, although the show left me a little unsatisfied.

Violet, both the show and the title character, are done disservices when performed in such a large venue as City Center. Violet's struggles are so internalized, and her greatest musical moment is a quiet lullaby. The supporting characters are much bigger and easily steal the show from her. Joshua Henry owned the night with "Let It Sing," and the big Leap of Faith gospel number was a close second.

This isn't to say that Sutton Foster wasn't good- in fact I thought she did a great job. It was just that the psychological drama playing out in her mind doesn't easily carry throughout the theater.

Violet shares settings and plot points with another play currently facing intimacy issues in New York: The Trip To Bountiful. Violet must take a bus ride to Oklahoma in order to find healing and spiritual release, meeting a colorful cast of characters along the way. It's a small story, and the score often washes over you, painting pictures with friendly melodies.

Christopher Sieber did a good job as the preacher, but come on! If ever there was a role for Raul Esparza to poke a little fun at himself with, this was it.

I don't mean to come across as negative as it might seem because I really did enjoy hearing the score performed so wonderfully tonight, but it was problematic nonetheless to put on such a small show in such a cavernous space.

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I had a different experience. I didn't know the show and, to be honest, I've never been Sutton's biggest fan. She won me over in an enormous way tonight.

This was an incredible, thrilling, devastating night at te theater, even from up in the nose-bleeds. I wept through much of the show, was a wreck during Violet's number with her father, and had room in my heart for bursts of joy and laughter as the incredibly well balanced show (in tone and presentation) allowed.

The cast was flawless, the music soul-stirring, and moments genuinely have me chills. I understand your criticisms, Whizzer, but for me, happily, it was a perfect, thrilling, enriching night at the theater.

I wish I had that experience, Sauja! I really wanted to, but I felt so emotionally detached from it, which I guess is par for the course in a one night only concert version of the show. It was my first exposure to the piece and I just didn't really feel the emotional kick I was hoping/waiting for.

Matt, too big a space or not, I was VERY grateful to be here tonight, especially for such a special event for $25.

From the front row of the balcony, I really was taken with show. I have been listening to the score for months leading up to this show, and tonight did not disappoint.

Sutton was great, though I would have loved to see her take some more time with the character without a script. It was hard for me to get emotionally involved with such a harrowing experience as she had her head buried in the script. I am not faulting her as this was a once night only experience, and she did quite well, I just had to admit that did take away from my experience slightly.

Joshua Henry totally stole the show for me. I thought he was excellent.Also, as WickedRocks said Rema Webb was AMAZING. Her solo was electrifying.

I actually really fell in love with the show. I loved the score and the story really touched me too, though there were definitely moments that didn't work, especially in the Encores staging. I think part of the problem is that Encores has gotten so strong as of late with basically full scale productions of their shows, that when we see a more basic staging it isn't quite as satisfying. The flashbacks, much like the scenes outside the courtroom in Cradle will Rock were just clunky staged the way they were.

That said I loved the opportunity to see this show staged at all. I really wish I could see a full production because I think this show has something very special that isn't seen in shows lately.

The problem with this production was not just the large space. Sam Gold, the Director, really didn't use the space in an effective way. There's a lot of memory overlap in the show and Gold just had people sauntering on and off. The Playwrights Horizon re-opening production didn't have much more of a set, but the space was used more evocatively. True, there wasn't a lot of rehearsal time here, but still...

The other problem, for me, was Sutton Foster. Her star wattage was too bright for the character. Lauren Ward caught the proper "plainness" for Violet. So when Montgomery leaves, it's a triple punch. But what a voice on that woman!

The cast was fine, and Rema Webb...Wow! Nice to see the original Flick and Montgomery in the audience.

http://www.nycitycenter.org/content/stage/off-center.aspx

It was part of the "mission" of the "Off Center" program. But Encores usually has quite a lot of $25 balcony seats available for their productions (and the view up there, while high up, is much better since the renovation).

Oops...my mistake...thanks theatreguy.

And I almost ran right into her. She looks a lot like Janine Tesori.

One thing that was lost not only in the space, but the concert setting in general, was the veracity of whether or not Violet actually has a scar.

Lauren Ward never wore scar makeup in the original production, and it was no mistake that Sutton wasn't wearing any tonight. It is left up to the audience whether or not the scar truly developed as she claims or if she is simply imagining the ugliness upon herself.

I had a nice discussion with a friend after the show about whether we thought the scar was there or not. I think she may have had a faint mark, but that it was mostly imagined.

What do others think?

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There wasn't a scar in the NYU production either. I think that the scar is there. I remember how gruesome the reenactment felt with young Vi and her dad which sealed the deal for me that it was real. Yes, Violet could be fabricating that situation in her memory, but I don't think that she is.

Whizzer -- I strongly recommend reading the short novel VIOLET is based on - The Ugliest Pilgrim by Doris Betts. It's a beautifully written piece and I think you would love it.

In the original short story, the scar is definitely real and pretty horrific. But certainly it's also true that Violet's own emotional weight of the accident carries strongly into her interaction and perception by others; as she finds 'lightness' in the journey, her scar does become something more of a metaphor for her spirit than a physical flaw.

I never got the incest vibe watching the original production (Lauren Ward's performance in the original, btw was one of my absolute favorites I've ever seen in a NY Theatre) and though there was no makeup used to indicate a scar -- Ward did have one long strand of hair that was loose and fell across her face, which was in some ways representative.

Updated On: 7/18/13 at 01:17 AM

Hi MB!

I just went on amazon and ordered the short story; I found it in a set of Southern Short Stories from 1829-1973.

I know you've spoken very highly of Ward's performance before.

somethingwicked, Ha, perhaps you are right that I'm reading too much into, but for some reason that's always how I've taken the message. That it is more allegory than anything else.

The people on the bus do react, but that isn't necessarily proof to me that the scar is real. It could either be Violet heightening their reactions in her mind or their ability to see the pain she so openly carries around on her sleeve, so to speak.

I think part of the reason I make these leaps is because this is the woman who musicalized a maid who sings with a dryer, radio and seven-cycle washing machine. It doesn't seem out of the realm of possibilities that the scar is a similar device.

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Updated On: 7/18/13 at 01:33 AM

I love the fact that the actress who plays VIOLET doesn't "wear" a scar. It IS horrific and she was brutally injured. It gives us as an audience a very interesting job. This scar that has haunted her for her entire life and is the inciting incident for everything that happens in the story is OUR JOB to envision. What do we perceive as ugly or horrific? (Or what would be ugly or horrific to her) Does it matter how disfigured her face is?

I ADORED Shuler Hensley's performance in THE WHALE. But I had a moment of wishing he wasn't in a fat suit and that the audience had to rely on their imaginations to picture just how enormous this man was.

Saw the performance tonight as well. I thought it was really beautiful.

Chris,

Matt makes a valid point, epecially since the City Center was founded with the mission to provide performing arts to the public at affordable prices. I don't think tickets priced at over $100 is in keeping with that mission.

As for all this pretentious hogwash about the scar not being real, I'll put forth a novel and outrageous notion: how about just paying attention to what's plainly obvious in the text?

In any case, I enjoyed the performance last evening. The cast was excellent, as was the orchestra. I found the story affecting, the score in and out.