Violet

Violet, a musical journey across America during the 1960s, presented the same challenge of orchestra placement combined with multiple scene changes. The solution came in the form of a two-level set of a bus stop with the orchestra housed within the interior of the bus stop. The outside tiled area was used as the main playing space where chairs were rearranged through clever staging and strategic lighting to create different locations. The second level was used mainly for the more intimate flashback scenes, and highlighted the dimensional signage seen while traveling the American countryside. Students worked on a mechanized moving bed, a variety of faux painted surfaces, and transformed the rolling door of the back wall of the theatre into a giant Coca-Cola mural.

Playwright: 
Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley based on The Ugliest Pilgrim by Doris Betts
Director: 
Pam Pepper
Lighting Designer: 
Devin Kinch
Costume Designer: 
Mary Ann Swords-Greene
Venue : 
Diamond Theatre, Lehigh University
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