Character Breakdowns

Violet - This is truly a tour-de-force, dream role for any actor.  This will be one of the most challenging and rewarding roles an actor with fierce chops will ever have!  Violet never leaves the stage! 25 years old, was hit in the face by her father's ax blade when she was 13, (even though we never see an actual scar on the actor's face)her father died 3 years ago, her mother died sometime before the accident and her mother's Baltimore Catechism is very important to her - what her mother wrote in the margins is all she has to look to for motherly advice, she is on a journey for healing - she believes that a tele-evangelist will heal her scar and make her life better, she sincerely and devoutly believes the preacher can heal her, can handle herself around men, knows and understands the choices she makes regarding men, she must make peace with her father, her past and her self
"People take one look at this, and figure that's all there is to me." "that scar must reach to your heart"
Casting factors: mezzo-belt, strong physical stage presence, needs to be taller and/or more mature than actress playing Young Violet, able to convey emotions honestly and sincerely, strong and vulnerable at the same time

Flick - Grady Fliggins, late 20s - late 30's, an African American army sergeant, a nice guy, confident and able to handle himself but not obnoxious about it, falls in love with Violet but is afraid to make his feelings known to her, joined army because it is the only place he could have respect from white men (at least in terms of rank), protective of Violet
Casting Factors: baritone, African American, physically fit and believable as an army sergeant, strong and quiet stage presence

Monty - Montgomery Harrill from near Raleigh, mid-20s, a corporal (Flick outranks him), a paratrooper stationed at Fort Smith in Arkansas, at end of play has joined Green Berets/special forces and will be shipping out from San Francisco to Viet Nam, "a pretty boy" - blond, golden boy?,  arrogant and cocky about life and women, has a  Norton motorcycle, he makes moves on Violet first but really has no intention of a long-term relationship, he feels sorry for her and just can't resist her sad eyes, shallow and unable to really commit to her
Casting Factors: tenor, a "pretty boy," physically fit and believable as a paratrooper and Green Beret, strong, confident stage presence

Young Violet - 13 years old, curious and full of questions, stubborn, its just she and her dad so they have a pretty good relationship but that also makes her a tomboy, not into school, always gets cheated at the grocery store because she can't do math so dad uses poker to teach her math
Casting Factors: mezzo soprano, juvenile, youthful look, petite - smaller than Violet, youthful energy and vulnerability on stage

Father - late 30s - 40's, he interacts with both Violets in past and present, he is not educated and doesn't speak well but he knows it makes a difference and wants Violet to have a better life than he had, he is protective of her and worried about her and the trouble she can get into with boys, gentle and firm when necessary, feels guilt for accident
Casting Factors: baritone, physically larger than both Violets to project maturity, needs to be able to carry Young Violet and dance with her on his toes

Preacher - 30's - 50's, slick, tele-evangelist whose service and ministry has now  become a "show,"  he admits that he is tired and that his "touch" is not what it used to be, is sincere and "real" in first "dream sequence"           

The remaining characters are played by an Ensemble of approx. 4 Men and 4 Women, each playing multiple character roles:

WOMEN
Old Lady - 60s, going to Nashville to live with son and family anxious and unsure about moving in with him, had 8 children of her own, the youngest died in Korea, means well in terms of looking out for Violet but unsure how to talk about Violet's scar, dances w/ Violet's father in an act  two "dream sequence"
Landlady (Almeta) - African-American, runs boarding house, sings w/trio at end of Act I "Anyone would do"in Memphis, doesn't like having Monty and Violet under her roof
Hotel Singer - sings blues song, "Anyone would do"
Music Hall Singer  - sings blues song, "Anyone Would Do"
Lula Buffington - soloist in gospel choir
Mabel - passenger on bus, tired of sittin', been married four times
Old Lady #2 - passenger on bus

 MEN           
Leroy Evans - Resident of Spruce Pine, has a dog named Roscoe?, seems a little "slow," won't look Violet in the face
Bus Driver #1 (Wallace Weatherman) - wears glasses, black hair, thin lips, flat cheeks, bent nose, small ears
Waiter - works in diner in Kingsport, Tennessee, won't serve Flick at counter, racist, insults Flick
Bus Driver #2 - takes over in Nashville, on PA system then in person
Mechanic - redneck, racist bully, picks fight w/ Flick
Rufus - another redneck, racist bully, friend of the mechanic, fights w/Flick
Radio Singer & Trio - sing wonderful father-daughter ballad
Billy Dean - boy she gave virginity to as a teenager
Bus Driver #3 - drops guys off at Fort Smith in Arkansas
Virgil - Preacher's right-hand man/assistant
Bus Driver #4 (Johnson) - drives Violet from Tulsa back to Fort Smith
Creepy Guy - passenger on bus, starts to evangelize, doesn't trust wife
Earl  - passenger on bus with a flea circus, smokes in john