Review by Daz Gale
⭐️⭐️
A music legend is the subject of a new show making its UK debut after an acclaimed run off-Broadway as A Night With Janis Joplin rocks up to the Peacock Theatre. Would this show be as enthusiastically received over here and successfully manage to take a piece of my heart?
Inspired by the iconic singer Janis Joplin whose relatively small discography due to her death at the age of 27 has ensured her legacy has transcended generations in the decades since, A Night With Janis Joplin does exactly that. Taking you on an intimate journey with Janis as you discover her own influences, audiences are invited to step into Janis' mind for a love letter to the blues.
That may well have been the intent anyway. The problem with this show is it doesn't seem to quite know what it wants to be. Having the words "the musical" in the show's title is inaccurate as this show is more of a concert or tribute show rather than anything else. Perhaps it's those false expectations that meant this show disappointed me massively. There is some semblance of a story present in a messy and disjointed narrative which has the tendency to ramble incoherently, all the while never quite having anything to say. Apart from her musical influences, there is no opportunity to get to know Janis better with huge parts of her life and story glossed over, leaving an unsatisfying ending.
The show lacks structure throughout, culminating with an ending that I wasn't sure was even the ending... after a moment 5 minutes earlier that felt like a more natural end. With an over-reliance on audience response, A Night With Janis Joplin continually inserts unnatural and jarring moments that force an audience reaction and assume far too much goodwill from them, with awkward pauses until somebody finally cheers or shouts something out. This device cheapens the show and attempts to illicit undeserved cheers, with one painfully pretentious moment towards the shows climax where Janis stands in silence and darkness following a performance for several minutes, despite the fact the ovation from the crowd has drastically subsided. It all comes across as rather tacky and inauthentic.
While Janis Joplin should be the primary focus of this show, this seems to get confused along the way with the shift to her musical influences with Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone among them. While this was a nice idea in theory, its execution is deeply flawed with a stop/start technique making it feel like Janis Joplin was taking part on an episode of ‘Desert Island Discs’. For a show about Joplin herself, she does seem to be pushed into the background for large chunks of it with a constant walking off stage to let someone else take front and centre failing to provide a coherent narrative or clear focus.
There is also the sense that the show suffers from being in the wrong venue. I sensed this would have benefited from a more intimate space with the grander size of the peacock theatre making it harder to connect and the sentiments of the show feeling soulless. As a glorified tribute show, the space is too big for a show whose quality never quite fills it, with similar shows being found locally at far smaller venues around the country – while this isn’t a bad thing, and these tribute shows are a great way to further the legacy of those artists who have now sadly left us, the right venue and right size can do wonders for the impact of the show.
I should say many in the audience had a complete opposite reaction to me and were clearly loving the show throughout. Perhaps I suffered from not being as familiar with as much of Joplin’s catalogue aside from a few of them though I am someone who loves exploring the history of music and the influences they have to this day. Though it’s not right to compare, I am reminded of a jukebox musical I saw years ago where I went in being unfamiliar with the artists work… only to find myself front row at a concert of theirs six months later. If I wasn’t reviewing, there is an argument I may have enjoyed this more, but I can only take a show on face value and, for this one, I had to take it as a piece of theatre which, while admirable in its attempts, misfired on many fronts for me.
There is one aspect that makes the show far more enjoyable and that is solely down to its incredible cast. Mary Bridget Davies reprises her Tony Award-nominated role from the original Broadway run in 2013 as the legendary Janis Joplin. An undeniable talent, she has the range and power to do Joplin’s vocals justice and confidently performs some of her most enduring classics such as ‘Piece Of My Heart’, ‘Crybaby’ and the crowd-pleasing ‘Me and Bobby Mcgee’. Her interactions with the audience prove a bit more awkward, however, and due to the flawed nature of the writing, she does find herself sitting in the shadows of her four Joplinaires, unable to retain the focus and getting outshone by then, despite her own magnificent abilities.
Kalisha Amaris, Georgia Bradshaw, Choolwe Laina Muntanga and Danielle Steers take on the role of the four Joplinaires – a dominating presence on stage who also take turns to double as some of Joplin’s musical influences and contemporaries. Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Bessie Smith, Odetta and Etta James all get moments in a look at some of the greatest musicians there has ever been. With sensational vocals between them, their moments on stage eclipse that of the main attraction, with their climactic group number ‘I Shall be Released’ providing my personal musical highlight of the night in a piece of musical heaven. Other highlights throughout include Steers’ stunning and distinctive vocals on ‘Down On Me’ and a stunning act one closer duet from Kalisha Amaris as Aretha and Mary Bridget Davies.
Not every musical moment fares as successfully with too much stop/start and a repetitive use of another artist singing their song before Janis takes over with her interpretation. While this is meant to signify the origins of her influences, it actually went on to lessen the impact. An early outing for ‘Summertime’ fell flat for me, while the timeless classic that is ‘Piece Of My Heart’ should have been an absolute showstopper, but was met with a more muted response than expected. The inclusion of an unrecorded Janis Joplin song ‘I’m Gonna Rock My Way To Heaven’ is an inspired touch though suffers from some subpar dialogue in its run up.
Sound issues also affected A Night With Janis Joplin on this night, at least. While the loudness may have been intentional, it meant that a lot of the lyrics were undistinguishable. This did improve later on in the show, though the loud nature did detract from the desired intimacy which would have allowed a better connection. While a haze certainly felt befitting of the subject, the lighting was far too problematic throughout, making it difficult to see and never quite lighting the legendary musicians in the way they deserved.
The initial announcement of A Night With Janis Joplin in London filled me with excitement. Hearing how acclaimed it had been previously and my own love for celebrating music legends had me convinced this was going to be a show I adored. Sadly, it never managed to meet those expectations with its flaws too numerous for me to enjoy on a personal level. Of course, theatre is subjective and I’m sure there will be many who disagree with my feelings for this show – the cast alone are worth giving this show a watch though I only wish the writing and execution of this production matched their impressive talents. For me, A Night With Janis Joplin would have to end up as a one night stand as this show about the blues only ended up making me feel blue.
A Night With Janis Joplin plays at the Peacock theatre until 28th September.
Photos by Danny Kaan
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