Thirty years on, the Blues Brothers live on in The Official Blues Brothers Revue which arrives at Jacksonville's Times-Union Center on Thursday, February 23rd at 7:30PM.
About the show: "It seems like yesterday that brothers, Jake and Elwood Blues, played by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, invited the world to join them on a 'mission from God'. The hit movie The Blues Brothers was a loveable tale of redemption about the pair of paroled convicts, who set out to save the Catholic orphanage in which they grew up, from the taxation department. As the story goes, they re-formed their rhythm and blues band, The Blues Brothers, and organized a concert to raise $5,000 to pay off the debt and save the day. But things never went according to plan for Jake and Elwood, and their story evolved into a rollicking journey of misadventure and one of the best-loved movies of all time."
Starring Wayne Catania as Jake and Kieron Lafferty as Elwood, The Official Blues Brothers Revue is the only Blues Brothers show to be officially sanctioned by Dan Aykroyd and wife of the late John Belushi, Judith Belushi.
After John's untimely death, Judith Belushi and her new husband, Victor Pisano, along with Dan Aykroyd, continued to fly the Blues Brothers' flag in John's honor. Together, they created 'The Blues Brothers Revival' which was written by Victor and produced by Judy and Dan. After auditioning over 200 Blues Brothers teams for the world premiere of their musical, Judith, Victor and Dan came across Wayne and Kieron, who were immediately cast in the lead roles.
Since 2005, Judith, Dan and the John Belushi Estate, have officially sanctioned Kieron and Wayne's own show. The Official Blues Brothers Revue combines the comedy, music and mayhem from the original movie, as well as songs from the five popular albums put out by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. It is a faithful recreation of the characters, Jake and Elwood, and a spectacular tribute to Chicago's rich history of blues, R&B and traditional soul music, played with the same soul and conviction of the original Blues Brothers Band.
More recently, Kieron and Wayne joined creative forces with Judy Belushi and Anne Beatts (head writer, Saturday Night Live 1975-80) to write the pilot for a television show based on the continuing adventures of Jake and Elwood, aka The Blues Brothers. But until this latest venture hits the small screen, the Official Blues Brothers Revue is as close as you are likely to get to Jake and Elwood, and the music and magic of one of the greatest musical partnerships in the history of the silver screen.
The show boasts Blues Brothers staples like She Caught The Katy, Shake A Tail Feather , Minnie The Moocher, Sweet Home Chicago , Messin' With The Kid, Rubber Biscuit, Soul Man, I Can't Turn You Loose and a host of other tunes from the five popular albums recorded by Belushi and Aykroyd. A band of crack blues musicians and singers from the U.S. and Canada perform the music with all the soul, skill and playfulness of the original Blues Brother Band while Catania and Lafferty command center stage as Jake and Elwood.
Tickets for The Official Blues Brothers Revue begin at $28.50 and can be purchased at www.artistseriesjax.org or at The Artist Series Box Office at (904) 632-3373. Discounts are available for groups of 10+ by calling (904) 632-3228 or groupsales@fscj.edu.
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