The Violet Hour


The Violet Hour is a play by Richard Greenberg which premiered at the South Coast Repertory in 2002 and ran on Broadway in 2003.

Synopsis

The play takes place in New York in 1919. A young publisher named John Pace Seavering has enough money to publish one book. He is torn between two options - publishing the gargantuan novel of his former college roommate, Denis McCleary, who hopes that he and his fiancée, Rosamund Plinth, can win the blessing of her wealthy father - or publishing the memoirs of his lover Jessie Brewster, a famous singer. Then a mysterious, paper spewing machine appears in the office. John and his assistant Gidger discover that the papers are from books published far in the future, chronicling the history of the publishing house after it achieves success and prestige. Gidger, John's assistant, learns that he is forgotten by time. John learns that while he becomes a well-to-do publisher, the success has disastrous results for both Denis and Jessie. He tries to avert these fates by refusing to publish either manuscript, but realizes that their paths are unavoidable. Finally, he agrees to publish both, knowing that what happens afterwards is out of his hands.

Cast of characters

  • John Pace Seavering - publisher
  • Jessie Brewster - John's lover
  • Denis McCleary - college roommate, friend and author
  • Rosamund Plinth - Denis' new girlfriend
  • Gidger - John's assistant

    Production history

The Violet Hour was commissioned by and originally produced by South Coast Repertory, in Costa Mesa, California, and premiered there from November 5 through 24, 2002. Directed by Evan Yionoulis, the cast featured Hamish Linklater as Seavering, Mario Cantone as Gidger, Michelle Hurd as Jessie, Kate Arrington as Rosamund, and Curtis Mark Williams as Denis.
The play debuted on Broadway on November 6, 2003. This was the first play produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club in the renovated Biltmore Theatre. MTC's production cast featured Robert Sean Leonard as Seavering, Scott Foley as Denis, Robin Miles as Jessie, Dagmara Dominczyk as Rosamund, and Cantone reprising his role as Gidger, and ran for 54 performances, the planned length of its subscription run. Evan Yionoulis again directed. The production was nominated for the 2004 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Lighting Design but experienced trouble during production: Laura Benanti withdrew during rehearsals, and Jasmine Guy left after the first week of previews.

Regional productions

A Studio Cast recording of a musical adaptation of the play was released by Will Reynolds and Eric Price on November 4, 2022. The recording stars Santino Fontana, Erika Henningsen, Jeremy Jordan, Solea Pfeiffer, and Brandon Uranowitz. Orchestrations are by Charlie Rosen and musical supervision is by Andy Einhorn. Richard Greenberg wrote the Introduction to the recording's digital booklet. The world premiere production of the musical is in development.