IN THREE MAJOR CITIES AND WILL NOW PLAY
AT THE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE
MARCH 15 – APRIL 11, 2013
Pasadena, California - The Pasadena Playhouse (Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director and Elizabeth Doran Executive Director), in association with Todd Gershwin and Daniel Chilewich of One Night Productions, LLC, the Estate of Janis Joplin and Jeff Jampol of JAM, Inc. announced today that ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN will fill the fourth production slot in the current 2012 – 2013 season. Hailed by critics in Cleveland as a “feel-good, fist-pumping, must-see” show, ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN has left audiences clamoring for tickets in Portland, Cleveland and Washington D.C. Now coming to The Pasadena Playhouse in celebration of the Los Angeles area’s great Rock ‘n’ Roll history, performances will begin March 15 through April 11, with a press opening night on Sunday,
March 17, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. at The Pasadena Playhouse. Tickets are currently available with a 2012 – 2013 season subscription purchase. Single tickets will go on sale later this month.
ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN, written and directed by Randy Johnson and starring the acclaimed performances of Mary Bridget Davies as Janis Joplin and Sabrina Elayne Carten as the Blues Singer, is a full-on concert experience and musical journey into the life and inspirations of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest legends. With a voice like whiskey and a laugh like pure joy, Janis Joplin took the music scene by storm. Simultaneously rough and vulnerable, Joplin was dubbed the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, proving music wasn’t just a man’s world anymore. ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN also shines a spotlight on the great African-American blues artists who influenced Janis’ musical style and career, including Bessie Smith,
Etta James and Aretha Franklin. This new musical event features Joplin hits and classic songs such as “Piece of My Heart,” “Mercedes Benz,” “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Ball and Chain” and “Summertime” with a live on-stage band – creating a compelling portrait of an artist through the words and music of one of America’s greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll icons.
"The Los Angeles area premiere of this show is the perfect choice to complete our current season,” said Playhouse Artistic Director Sheldon Epps. “I look forward to the rocking rhythms of Janis Joplin and her influences igniting The Playhouse as it has at theatres all over the country. I hope that fans of the great Janis, both new and old, will join this celebration and be inspired by both her life story and her music."
“Every performance of ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN, is like a family homecoming for me,” stated Laura Joplin, sister to Janis Joplin. “I’m blessed with the opportunity to see, feel and re-create the intense pleasure of engaging with my sister again. Janis may have died in 1970 but she comes alive again when she shares a funny story onstage, belts out her songs with her unique emotional wrapping and pushes me to share my emotional bonding in foot-stomping, hand-clapping and sing-along magic. I would attend the show every night of the run for the thrill of feeling the power of those times and this woman.”
“Having the opportunity to continue this incredible production in Southern California with Sheldon Epps and the entire Pasadena Playhouse team is a thrill, especially on the heels of the wildly successful productions with Cleveland Playhouse and Arena Stage,” said producer Daniel Chilewich of One Night Productions.
ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN was produced this past summer by One Night Productions in partnership with the Cleveland Playhouse and Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. (September 28 – November 4, 2012), following a previous opening at Portland Center Stage in 2011. This hit musical has garnered multiple nominations for the 2012 BroadwayWorld.com Awards and recently won the 2012 Cleveland Critics Circle Awards for Best Regional Touring Production and Best Actress in a Musical (Mary Bridget Davies). Critical praise for the production includes:
“…a joyful ruckus…it features not just one remarkable performance, that of Mary Bridget Davies, looking uncannily like Joplin and producing a version of the Joplin screech that starts somewhere around the singer’s ankles, wends its way up into the back of her throat and shoots off into the farthest reaches of Arena’s Kreeger Theater…[it] also showcases the variety of vocal gifts of Sabrina Elayne Carten, who materializes as some of the blues greats Joplin here claims as inspirations: Bessie Smith, Odetta, Nina Simone, Etta James” – The Washington Post
“ Doesn't matter if you are a blues, rock and roll, or Joplin fan or not, there is no way you aren’t going to leave this performance on an emotional high!” – Broadway World
“A runaway hit…[Mary Bridget Davies] does not just sing Janis…she is Janis…She does not simply sing the blues…she is the blues…It was FAR OUT MAN! As far as how many stars? It’s definitely a freakin’ five plus!” – Cleveland Examiner
“If you never got the chance to see Janis live or on film, this feels as close as you’re going to get.” – The Oregonian
The ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN creative team includes Len Rhodes (Musical Arranger), Justin Townsend (Set and Lighting Design), Jeff Cone (Costume Design), Carl Casella (Sound Design) and Darrell Maloney (Projection Design).
ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN will play from March 15 – April 11, 2013 with a press opening on Sunday, March 17, 2012, at 5:00 p.m. Single tickets will go on sale later this month. Tickets are currently available with a 2012 – 2013 Season purchase. The Pasadena Playhouse is located at 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101. Season tickets and general information about ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN is available by calling The Pasadena Playhouse at 626-356-7529 or by visiting The Pasadena Playhouse Box Office, or online at www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org. For more information on the production, visit the official show website at www.OneNightWithJanisJoplin.com.
Full casting information and single ticket on-sale date for ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN will be announced soon.
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