Viola Gillette (1871–1956), born Viola Pratt, was an American contralto from Salt Lake City.
Gillette began her career as a church singer in Salt Lake City. She made her stage debut in Washington, D.C., in 1898.[1] She subsequently moved to New York City where she sang with the Castle Square Opera Company. She was a soloist at the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in New York from 1898 to 1899. Gillette's first concert appearance as a soloist was at the Springfield, Massachusetts, Music Festival in 1899.[2]
For a few months in early 1901, Gillette appeared at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London.[3] From 1901 to 1904, Gillette was employed by Klaw and Erlanger, appearing for two seasons in their production of Beauty and the Beast and for one season in Mother Goose.[1]
In 1907, Gillette appeared as Violetta in The Girl and the Bandit. She managed to turn this role into a position managing her own company, the Viola Gillette Opera Company. In 1909 she played Nichette in The Beauty Spot at the Herald Square Theatre in New York City.