''Love, Janis'' is a
musical stage show about the life and music of
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
singer
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...
. It was conceived, adapted and directed by Randal Myler (
''Hank Williams: Lost Highway'',
''It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues''). It debuted
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
in 2001 at the Village Theater (formerly the famed Village Gate) with musical direction by former
Big Brother And The Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company are an American rock band that was formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After ...
band member
Sam Andrew. The show had a long and healthy run, garnering over 700 performances.
Productions
''Love, Janis'' was initially produced by the
Denver Center Theater Company in May 1994, written and directed by Randal Myler. Onstage Janis was played by Laura Theodore and private Janis was played by
Catherine Curtin
Catherine Curtin is an American actress. She is best known for her role as correctional officer Wanda Bell in the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019). Other notable recurring roles include '' Insecure'', ''Str ...
(''
Stranger Things
''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...
'', ''
Orange Is The New Black
''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Pr ...
'').
''Love, Janis'' was produced at the
Zachary Scott Theatre Center, Austin, Texas, running August 1997–October 1997. Directed by Randal Myler, Andra Mitrovich played Janis as the soulful singer and Catherine Curtin portrayed the private woman. The musical also played at the Bay Street Theatre in
Sag Harbor, New York
Sag Harbor is an Administrative divisions of New York#Village, incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns of Southampton, New York, Southampton and East Hampton (town) ...
in 2000, as well as the
Cleveland Play House
Cleveland Play House (CPH) is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1915 and built its own noted theater complex in 1927. Currently the company performs at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square ...
(in 1999) and the Royal George Theatre in Chicago (in 1999, Catherine Curtin receiving a
Jeff Award
The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater st ...
nomination for Best Actress).
''Love, Janis'' opened
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
at the Village Theatre, New York City, opening on April 10, 2001 and closed on January 5, 2003 after over 700 performances. Directed by Randal Myler, Catherine Curtin starred as Janis, with alternating performances by Cathy Richardson and Andra Mitrovich (later singers included
Beth Hart
Beth Hart (born January 24, 1972) is an American musician from Los Angeles, California. She rose to fame with the release of her 1999 single "LA Song (Out of This Town)" from her second album ''Screamin' for My Supper''. The single was a number ...
,
Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single " Gloria", stayed on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking a ...
,
Orfeh
Orfeh (born March 28, 1971 as Orfeh Or) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She performed at the Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series in 2016, in the Broadway musicals ''Saturday Night Fever'', '' Legally Blonde'', ''Pretty W ...
, and
Sass Jordan
Sarah "Sass" Jordan (born 23 December 1962) is an English-born Canadian rock singer from Montreal, Quebec. Her first single, "Tell Somebody," from her debut album of the same title won the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1989. S ...
). Production design was by
Jules Fisher
Jules Fisher (born November 12, 1937) is an American lighting designer and producer. He is credited with lighting designs for more than 300 productions over the course of his 50-year career of Broadway and off-Broadway shows, as well extensiv ...
and
Peggy Eisenhauer; costumes were by Robert Blackman ("Star Trek").
Regional productions
There were many regional productions that ran after the Off-Broadway production. The musical premiered on the
West Coast at the
San Diego Repertory Theatre in September 2001 (directed by Randal Myler). A production played at the
Marines Memorial Theater in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
in July 2006, directed by Myler and with musical direction by former Big Brother And The Holding Company band member Sam Andrew. The San Francisco production included lighting by
Bill Ham
Billy Mack Ham (February 4, 1937 – June 20, 2016) was an American music impresario, best known as the manager, producer, and image-maker for the blues-rock band ZZ Top. Ham also gained prominence in the country music world by discovering and m ...
, the man behind the
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...
light shows at
the Avalon Ballroom and other venues in San Francisco in the 1960s. A production ran at the
Kansas City Repertory Theatre (Kansas City) in 2007, directed by Myler which featured
Kacee Clanton and
Mary Bridget Davies alternating as the singing Janis. The musical ran at the
Alley Theatre
Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at Lin ...
in
Houston, Texas
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
starting in January 2008, directed by Myler and starring Katrina Chester.
Concept
The musical was inspired by the best-selling book of the same name by sister Laura Joplin. Myler constructed the musical around the letters that Laura Joplin had given him.
[ The musical begins in 1966, after Joplin has hitchhiked to ]San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
to join Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company are an American rock band that was formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After ...
, and ends with her death in 1970. Her journey is told in her own words; the entire spoken text is quoted from Joplin's letters and interviews.
Performances include many of Joplin's most famous songs, "Piece of My Heart
"Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart ...
", "Get It While You Can", "Me and Bobby McGee
"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posth ...
", "Ball and Chain" and "Mercedes Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...
". Music direction for the Off-Broadway production was provided by Sam Andrew,[ founding member of Big Brother and the Holding Company. A ]soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
, using the original music and with letters read by Catherine Curtin, has also been released.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Janis (Musical)
Biographical musicals about musicians
Rock musicals
2006 musicals
Cultural depictions of Janis Joplin
Off-Broadway musicals
Jukebox musicals