The main character, Violet, steps off the train in Tulsa, Oklahoma from rural North Carolina with a ghastly scar on her face, in pursuit of a televangelist who she believes can heal her facial abnormality. Along her journey, she finds herself involved in a love triangle with two soldiers who teach her about love and beauty through racial and social differences.

The tale is one inspired by the saying, "beauty is only skin deep" and has won the 1997 Richard Rodgers Production Award for a new musical, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, among others.

VIOLET BLOOMS AT CLARE ROSE PLAYHOUSE

A look at the meaning of true beauty
By Brian Curry for the Long Island Advance

When I heard that the Clare Rose Playhouse on the grounds of St. Joseph's College in Patchogue was presenting a multi-character musical play, I inwardly groaned.

My feeling was that if there's anything this small, intimate 100-seat theater does not lend itself to, it's an all over the stage, swinging, singing extravaganza. And to their credit, their offerings lately have been the exact opposite—interesting, plot driven, off-the-beaten-path works that stimulate and titillate the playgoer.

Maybe I was wrong. Or maybe Clare Rose simply just plucked a good one out of the hat. But, Violet, a 10-character full-blown musical, is a very good fit within the framework of this small stage and actually works to its advantage.

Maybe it was because of the play's off-Broadway origins at Manhattan's Playwrights Horizons in 1997, where it won the prestigious Drama Critic’s Circle Award. But whatever the reason may be, I was more than pleasantly surprised and more than a little intrigued.

Violet is a 13-year-old girl played by 12-year-old Monica Zaech (who we then see throughout the play in flashbacks) who is in a horrible farm accident and suffers a deep gash fro her nose all the way down her cheek. This is dealt with rather quickly and the majority of the play then takes place aboard a Greyhound bus with an adult. Violet's interacting with the people she meets, forming the crux of what Brian Crawley (who wrote the book and the song lyrics based on the story The Ugliest Pilgrim) is trying to convey.

Violet is on her way to see a televangelist who she feels can cure her, that is, to fix her scarred and disfigured face. Though we know she is scarred, Kelly Conrad as the adult Violet is not made up to show that. This owes to the play's deeper underlying message that beauty comes from within and that once physical attributes are overlooked we’re all the same.

Conrad is excellent having to carry a large part of the play in incredibly fine voice. Then, her expressive face while playing off the other bus riders is like having another line of dialogue running. But along with her fellow cast members their songs come alive in varieties of blues, bluegrass and gospel styles.

Tow of those other riders are soldiers (the play takes place in 1964 at the start of the Vietnam Conflict) returning to their base. Monty is played by James Schultz and Flick is played by Van Whitaker.

Though both are relative veterans of Long Island theater, they are making their premiere at Clare Rose, but as kindred spirits to Violet in ways that all three will soon come to discover along their trip in a variety of telling songs, they too must carry the subtle message of Violet and they each do so superbly and convincingly.

Each has their own baggage, but both see something special in Violet. Schultz's highlight is when he realizes he has fallen for her, but doesn't know quite why in a surprisingly touching "You're Different" while Whitaker must deal with not only his own conflicting feelings towards her, but as an African-American in the 1964 south must deal with the underlying prejudice and mistrust. But he is wise and says so in Let it Sing.

Stacey Smith does a great job as director in addition to playing a variety of small roles. The rest of the ensemble, also in a variety of small roles, were all in fine voice and took every scene where it needed to be. They included Debra Dommasch, Robert James Franzese, Jeff Pangburn, Dennis Dudley, Nick Sperduti and Candis Alek.

So does Violet's quest for a cure come to be? You'll have to purchase a ticket for that bus yourself and go along for the trip. Violet will play weekends through March 9. For tickets, directions or further information contact the Clare Rose Playhouse at 654.0199.

Performance Dates:March 7, and 8 at 8 PM.
March 9 at 3 P