Vintage Theatre presents “The Violet Hour” July 10, 2009

Vintage Theatre presents the Regional Premiere of

The Violet Hour

Written by Richard Greenberg

In collaboration with Hunger Artists
Directed by Stacey Nelms

(Denver, CO) - Vintage Theatre opens Richard Greenberg’s “The Violet Hour” on Friday, July 10 and plays Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through August 9 at Vintage Theatre, 2119 E 17th Ave in Denver. Tickets are $22 at the door, $17 in advance and available by calling 303-839-1361 or online at www.vintagetheatre.com

It's April 1st, 1919, and the young independent publisher John Pace Seavering is setting up his office: a couple of dilapidated rooms in a romantic Manhattan tower. With only enough capital to put out one book, John finds himself besieged by two authors. Denny McCleary, John's brash and gifted college friend, has produced a manuscript so unruly it lives in a trio of crates. Denny has a surprise imperative: He's fallen in love with the enchanting heiress Rosamund Plinth, and if John doesn't agree to publish his book today, he'll lose her forever. But John is also being strenuously lobbied by Jessie Brewster, the popular black jazz singer who is also John's very secret mistress. She's written her memoirs and is determined to have her story known. As John temporizes with these two, another drama is playing out in the anteroom: A machine of mysterious provenance and purpose has arrived and is spewing out stacks of pages while John's hapless assistant, Gidger, strives vainly to stem the flood. What's written on these pages will throw John's every hope and plan into disarray.

Stacey Nelms directs Ben Cowhick as John Pace Seavering, Brian Kusic as Denis McCleary, Jason Maxwell as Gidger, Kimberly Nicole as Jessie Brewster and Crystal Verdon as Rosamund Plinth.

Award winning American playwright Richard Greenberg (1958 -) graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University. He attended Harvard for graduate work in English, and was accepted into Yale's playwriting program. He is the author of over 25 plays including eight South Coast Repertory world premieres. Greenberg was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for “Three Days of Rain” in 1998 and again in 2003 for his play “Take Me Out.” “Take Me Out” won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Play.

“…the language throughout is gorgeous (the title, for example, refers to ''the wonderful New York hour when the evening's about to reward you for the day''). Among his peers, only Tony Kushner matches Mr. Greenberg in linguistic richness and playfulness.” – Ben Brantley, New York Times.

Vintage Theatre presents “The Violet Hour”

A regional premiere produced in collaboration with Hunger Artists

July 10 – August 9, 2009
Fri/Sat at 7:30 p.m. \ Sun at 2:30 p.m.
Vintage Theatre
2119 E 17th Ave in Denver.
Tickets are $22 at the door, $17 in advance
303-839-1361 or online at vintagetheatre.com