Ensemble Theatre Company presents A Night with Janis Joplin starring Mary Bridget Davies in her Tony-nominated role as the gone-too-soon rock ’n’ roller, a tiny woman with a massive, growling voice. Created and written by Randy Johnson, this production at the New Vic Theatre is co-directed by Davies and Brian McDonald.
“It’s about her evolution,” says Davies of the late songstress. “She didn’t wake up at 25 as a rock star.” The show follows Joplin from youth in a mid-century, oil-refinery town in Texas to counterculture goddess in San Francisco. “She wasn’t part of a machine,” says Davies. “She was just a girl from Texas that knew that there was something else out there for her.” The show also includes various voices from the blues world that shaped Joplin’s love and understanding of proto-rock music. People such as Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, and Odetta are featured as Joplin’s various muses as she develops her style and signature sound.
What stands out about Joplin, says Davies, is her undaunted sense of authenticity. “She was the first female rock star,” she says. “There was no one before her.” For a woman who lacked the glamour of other big musicians of the era (such as Michelle Phillips), and whose voice didn’t fit the traditional mold of the 1960s sound, Davies points out that it was not an easy trajectory for Joplin from Texas teen to rock legend. In fact, says Davies, Joplin washed out of the San Francisco scene in her teens before being called back by her ultimate destiny.
Featuring some of the star’s biggest hits, A Night with Janis Joplin is a celebration of this female vanguard and musical storytelling.
See the show April 1-26 at the New Vic (33 W. Victoria St.). See etcsb.org/production/a-night-with-janis-joplin.
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