Heritage Theatre Festival

Culbreth Theatre

July 28 – August 1, 2015

Directed by:  Robert Chapel

Musical Direction:  Greg Harris

Scenic Designer:  Brian C. Barker

Costume Designer:  Tricia Emlet

Lighting Designer:  Steven Spera

 

 

Violet is a story of hope and survival.  A young lady who was disfigured by a horrific accident when she was a child makes a journey to a preacher who she believes will remove her scar.  Along the way she meets two soldiers who make part of the journey with her.  They challenge what she seeks in Tulsa from the preacher.  In the end, she visits the preacher, and believes something has changed within her, she returns to meet the soldiers, only to discover that her scar is still there.

 

My research for this story began by reading the short story that this musical is based on.  This provided a great background for the adaptation of the story to the musical.  The set was a very neutral environment, allowing lighting and sound to help tell parts of the story.  Travelling ambiences on board the bus were my favorites.  One of the actors had multiple parts to play, and I got to assist one of them with some voice-changing recording tricks.

 

One of the challenges of this show was that the orchestra was on the stage as part of the scenic view.  They were centered within the world, inescapable.  Usually when an orchestra is on stage, they serve to contribute to the visual world, and thus they connect to the story in a visual way.  This was not the case with the Violet orchestra.  Despite being on stage and present with all the singers, it still took careful design and balance to provide the music director with the necessary sound to allow him to do his job.  It also required expanding our orchestra feeds to the cast to ensure they could hear everything they need.

 

Despite these challenges, this was a great show to work on.  The story is powerful and the music is emotional.  The show allowed me to be creative in more subtle ways with my sound.  Doing musicals with unique audio challenges makes me better and stronger as a designer, and this definitely expanded my toolbox.