Mary Bridget Davies Sings The Fuck Out Of Janis Joplin would have been a more appropriate title for the show we just saw on Broadway! And Mary Bridget Davies, who plays the iconic singer, is plenty reason to see this new non-musical musical.
A Night With Janis Joplin is more like a dramatized concert than a musical.
There is no book. There is no story. There is no drama – except in the music.
The show is set up like a night at a Joplin concert, as if she were still alive, and Janis talks to the audience about the blues. She talks about the blues a lot. And she sings the blues.
That’s the show.
The a bit disappointing.
But the singing is EXCEPTIONAL!
Joplin’s life was anything but boring and could have been quite compelling if fictionalized in a traditional musical. We’re not quite sure why that route wasn’t taken. But it is a missed opportunity!
Also baffling is why certain other music icons make cameos and sing in the show – actors Etta James and Aretha Franklin.
BUT, we are thankful for Aretha – for she is portrayed by the PHENOMENAL Natasha Yvette Williams, who steals the show whenever she’s on stage.
If anything, presented in the way that it is, A Night With Janis Joplin is true to the singer herself – all about the music!