Music critic Robert Christgau, writing in 1968, said of Big Brother and the Holding Company's lead singer, "Thank God for the band. If Janis had to put out like Janis for an hour a set, she would have dropped dead a year ago." This may explain why it takes three actresses to play Janis Joplin, the legendary vocalist who sacrificed heart, soul, health and, ultimately, her life, to the duende of rock-and-roll, who ruled the romantic America of the 1960s.
With a text drawn from her letters home, Love, Janis reveals an intelligent, articulate, sensitive and profoundly lonely young woman, alienated from her small-town Texas peers, desperate to be understood by her beloved family, and all but lost in the good-time-girl persona that grew around a unique vocal style that catapulted her to fame. Technique and training being useless -- indeed, counterproductive -- in reproducing the dionysic cadenzas that generations of devoted fans can recall down to the slightest inflection, two singers have been cast in the role of the "Singing Janis," alternating performances from night to night.
On the evening I attended, Cathy Richardson delivered aurally and theokinetically-accurate renditions of a score that includes such memorable anthems as "Down On Me," "Ball And Chain" and "Try A Little Harder" as well as better-known signature-tunes like "Piece Of My Heart," "Me And Bobby McGee" and the inevitable "Mercedes Benz," assisted by Tom Mendel's protean electric band (featuring thrilling solo-work by Steve Roberts on lead guitar and Paul Coscino on keyboards). It's all anchored by Catherine Curtin's gemutlich portrayal of the "Speaking Janis."
Originally developed at the Cleveland Play House, Love, Janis is an unabashed and long-overdue valentine, short on surprises and long on sentiment, that should prove a sure-fire commercial success with the baby-boomers who now represent mainstream audiences. Are you listening, Broadway?
