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The New Tampa Players’ fall production of “Violet” takes a mid-20th Century bus ride through the American southland, stopping at cheap hotels and honky tonks and gaining personal and social awareness along the way.

Based on author Doris Betts’ short story, “The Ugliest Pilgrim,” “Violet” examines themes of religious faith, pursuit of freedom and acceptance of oneself and others for who they are.

Principal performances in NTP’s production of “Violet” include Bri Filippelli in the title role of 26-year old Violet, who is introduced in the play as a teenager, portrayed by Olivia Carr. Violet’s father is portrayed by Matthew Melenas.

The younger Violet suffers a disfiguring facial injury in a wood-chopping accident that sets the play’s narrative in motion and its cast and audience on a trip back to 1964 America — with the music oscillating between blues and bluegrass. G. Frank Meekins is the music director.

Violet starts out from her home in the mountains of North Carolina with Tulsa, OK as her destination, where she’s counting on a renowned TV faith healer (played by Ryan Farnworth) to dissipate the physical scars she’s incurred. On the bus ride she becomes friends with two young soldiers, one black and one white, who provide reasons for the story to delve into the hot topics of that time: civil rights and the Vietnam War. Kyle Billington and Cody Carlson portray the two conscripts, Flick and Monty, respectively.

Community theatres like NTP offer an opportunity to see local productions of award-winning works like “Violet,” which had its 1997 premiere Off-Broadway and won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Best Musical award. A revised, Broadway production received several Tony Awards nominations in 2014, including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Direction of a Musical.

“Violet” is NTP’s Volunteers Choice show for the 2018-19 season. That annual selection is made by the community theatre’s volunteers, who accumulate the number of votes they get to cast by the number of hours spent volunteering for NTP.

This year’s production is co-directed by Frank Stinehour and Nora Paine, who also is NTP’s president. Paine says that there is plenty to consider and enjoy from attending one of the performances.

“It’s a very beautiful show with a very important message,” Paine says. “It addresses many things that a lot of people face personally, in a very creative manner.”

Performances of “Violet” will be performed at the University Area Community Center (14013 N. 22nd St., just south of Bearss Ave.), which is NTP’s home stage, the weekends of Oct. 19-21 and 26-28.

The curtain rises at 8 p.m. for Friday and Saturday evening performances and 2 p.m. for Saturday and Sunday matinees. NOTE: On Saturday, Oct. 20, the matinee of “Violet” will begin at 2:30 p.m.

For more information, call (813) 644-8285 or visit NewTampaPlayers.org, where you also can purchase tickets for $25. There is a $2 discount for students, seniors and military members, and a $5 per ticket discount for groups of 10 or more.

MOD Pizza’s first Tampa Bay-area location, located at 2227 Sun Vista Dr. on the south side of S.R. 56 west of the Starbucks, is set to open on Tuesday, Oct. 9, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. and free pizza for the first 52 customers.

While the first 52 get a free artisan-style pizza, 100 percent of all pizza sales after that will be donated to The Mike Evans Family Foundation, a non-profit 5-1(c)(3) started by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver, who is expected to be in attendance.

“MOD has established itself as a leader in the fast-casual pizza category while offering customers an authentic, affordable and fast dining experience,” said Jarett Levan, president of BBX Capital, the exclusive MOD Pizza franchisee in Florida, in a statement. “We are thrilled to spearhead the rapid expansion of the brand throughout the state with our first Tampa location.”

MOD pizzas, which we featured in this July story, are hand-cooked in 800-degree ovens in just minutes, and feature fresh-pressed dough and signature sauces, as well as any combination of more than 30 featured non-GMO toppings.

“We were and are the first super fast-casual chain in the United States,” Brick Kerge, VP of Operations for Food for Thought Restaurant Group, which owns the local MOD franchise, told us. “This is not just another pizza place.”

BBX Capital has signed an agreement to develop as many as 60 Florida outposts for MOD over the next five to seven years. Founded in Seattle in 2008, MOD is the country’s No. 1 fastest-growing chain, according to Nation’s Restaurant News’ list of the Top 10 Fastest-Growing Chains.

While MOD is the fastest-growing chain, it will soon have competition across the street from Blaze Pizza, the second-fastest-growing chain and currently under construction on the north side of S.R. 56.