The seats are fairly small and there is not a great deal of leg room, but this show is worth feeling a little snug for a couple of hours.Ī musical about Joplin's life could easily been made into a melodrama that ended tragically, but writer Randy Johnson's book mainly steers away from the dark side of Joplin's life and instead fashions the show as a celebration of the music she loved and of the women who were important role models. A word of warning there is a price to pay for the intimacy of the Lyceum. The Avalon was built in 1911 and was where Joplin made her debut with Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1966. It's a great place to see the show, and its early 20th century décor brings to mind the famous Avalon Ballroom in Francisco. The Lyceum Theatre is a landmark venue, built in 1903 by impresario Daniel Frohman. All of these women had a great impact on Joplin and her music, recording songs that she later adapted and made her own. During these interludes, other cast members perform as Etta James, Bessie Smith, Odetta, Nina Simone, and Aretha Franklin. The show is part rock concert and part monologue with the Janis character performing her most memorable songs and interspersing them with segments in which she talks about her early life, her views about women and the blues, and most importantly her musical influences. Joplin is currently the subject of a highly entertaining and informative musical production titled A Night With Janis Joplin at the venerable Lyceum Theatre located at 149 West 45th Street in New York City. Her brief but meteoric rise to fame ended prematurely at age 27 by a heroin overdose, but her influence is still being felt more than four decades later. Janis Joplin was the first white woman to rise to prominence as a blues singer and also one of the first successful female lead singers in rock.
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