A Broadway musical from a Tony Award-winning composer is making its New England debut.
Folk, gospel, and blues music tell the story of "Violet," a young North Carolina woman who travels by bus across the American South in 1964, hoping a televangelist will heal her of a scar left behind after an accident as a child.
"It's a journey. You get on and I don't think we let the audience off the bus until she's finished," said composer Jeanine Tesori.
Tesori wrote "Violet" with Brian Crawley back in 1997, her first musical, based on the Doris Betts short story "The Ugliest Pilgrim." Seventeen years later, "Violet" made it to Broadway.
"I think after this, it clarified for me what kinds of stories I wanted to tell. How to get better," said Tesori.
Getting better led to Tony nominations for "Shrek the Musical" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie" before a Tony win in 2015 for "Fun Home."
"This piece was the beginning of everything for me" Tesori said.
"Violet" is playing at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts through Feb. 6, a production of Speakeasy Stage Company. Tickets start at $25. For more information, click here.
