Love, Janis To Be Presented At Wilshire Theatre 5/29

The Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills continues its 2008 season with the Los Angeles premiere of LOVE, JANIS for five performances only: May 29 - June 1. The life and music of rock-n-roll icon Janis Joplin explodes onto the stage in LOVE, JANIS. LOVE, JANIS is a hauntingly intimate portrayal of one of America's most celebrated icons that goes behind the music to offer a glimpse at the soul of a legend both through the letters she wrote home and the songs she made famous.

Tickets for Love, Janis are now available at the Wilshire Theatre Box Office, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., and by phone at 323-655-0111.  Tickets can also be purchased through Ticketmaster - online at ticketmaster.com, by phone at 213-365-3500, and all Ticketmaster outlets.

Conceived, adapted and directed by Randal Myler (It Ain't Nothin But The Blues, Hank Williams: Lost Highway) and inspired by the best-selling book of the same name by Laura Joplin, LOVE, JANIS paints a stunning portrait of the legendary blues rocker-both of the singular performer who defied traditional musical definitions, and the sensitive, intelligent person remembered by family and friends-from her meteoric rise to fame in the '60s to her tragic death in 1970.  Janis' journey is told in her own words; the entire spoken text comes directly from Janis' actual letters and her many print, radio and television interviews.

These poignant insights into the private Janis are intertwined with explosive performances of her smash hit classics, including "Piece of My Heart," "Get It While You Can," "Me and Bobby McGee," "Ball and Chain" and "Mercedes Benz". Music Direction is provided by Sam Andrew, founding member of Big Brother and the Holding Company, the band with which Janis was discovered at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.

Three actresses share the role of this larger-than-life personality, with two sharing the stage each night.  Mary Bridget Davies and Andra Mitrovich alternate performances as Janis Joplin the performer, belting out rocking renditions of Joplin's hits.  Marisa Ryan portrays the private Janis, the young woman who chronicled the rapid rise of her brief career through expressive letters to her family back home in Port Arthur, Texas.

The New York Post calls LOVE, JANIS, "a potent, fresh and enormously crowd-pleasing evocation of the legacy of Janis Joplin," while USA Today deems it an "unabashed celebration."   And the San Diego Union Tribune declares "Joplin truly lives again in the affectionate and completely appealing 'LOVE, JANIS.'"

MARY BRIDGET DAVIES (Janis Joplin) Mary Bridget has been on stage since age three.  Her first love, dance, took her to Los Angeles on a scholarship, and then around the country as part of a touring dance troupe.  After completing the tour, Mary Bridget joined Cleveland's own Something Dada Improvisational Comedy Company.  Five years ago, she discovered a passion for singing blues, rock and soul music and now fronts the Mary Bridget Davies Group, which was nominated as the Best Blues Band by Cleveland's Scene and Free Times magazines.  Mary Bridget also received the Best Vocalist award from the Free Times.  She made her debut in Love, Janis at Cleveland's Playhouse Square and also performed the role at Theatre Aspen and the Marines Memorial Theatre in San Francisco as well as The Alley Theatre in Houston.

ANDRA MITROVICH (Janis)  has performed at ZACH Theatre in Austin, TX in It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues, Tapestry, The Music of Carole King; Tommy (The Acid Queen); Love, Janis; Rockin' Christmas Party (1993-2006); Soul Sisters: Judy & Andra in Concert; and Beehive (also an upstate NY tour). REGIONAL THEATER: Rockin' Christmas Party at San Antonio's Empire Theatre. Love, Janis at The Cleveland Playhouse, San Diego Repertory, Chicago's Royal George Theatre, Sag Harbor/L.I. Bay Street Theatre, Village Theatre in NYC & Village Theatre of Aspen, CO. MUSIC/TV/RADIO: Commercials/studio work for Disney Productions, Tequila Mockingbird, Parrot Tracks, SRS: Ben Blanks, The Hit Shack, Malted Milk Productions, Arlyn Studios and Sonic One Studios. Andra tours with "Big Brother & the Holding Co." and traveled with them on their 2005 European Tour. OTHER: Nominated for Best Actress for Joseph Jefferson Award in Chicago, won the B. Iden Payne Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Love, Janis; and the Austin Critics' Table Award for Featured Actress in a Musical for Beehive! Andra was inducted into the "Gulf Coast Hall of Fame" in Port Arthur, TX as a member of "Big Brother & the Holding Co." Andra recently performed with Gulf Coast blues band "98 in the Shade" (www.the98site.com ) & can be heard on their new CD,_"Complicated."  After popular demand, Andra will star in ZACH's upcoming production of Love, Janis in January 2009.

MARISA RYAN (Janis) is a New York native who studied and performed at the Royal National Theater in London.  Theater credits include: Another Part of the Forest, The Little Foxes (Seattle Rep, Cleveland Playhouse), Fast Tracks Live (Upright Citizans Brigade, NY).  Film credits: Brooklyn Lobster, Justice, Alchemy, Wet Hot American Summer, Riding in Cars With Boys, With or Without You, Slaves to the Underground, Love Always and many others.  Television: "Major Dad", "The Practice", "Falcone", "Pennsylvania Miners Story", "Mary and Rhoda", "New York Undercover", "Deadline", "Law and Order", "Law and Order SVU", "Mind of the Married Man", "Sex in the City", "Hack", and "The Black Donnellys".

RANDAL MYLER (Director, Adaptor) Broadway: It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues (Tony Award nomination - Director/Co-author).  Off-Broadway: Hank Williams: Lost Highway (Director/Co-Author - Outer Critic's Circle nomination 'Best Director'); Love, Janis (over 700 performances at the Village Theatre); Dream A Little Dream (Director - with original Mamas and the Papas lead singer Denny Dougherty); both the musical The Immigrant (Director) and the coal mining musical Fire On The Mountain (Director/Co-author).   His numerous other directorial credits include most regional theatres in America, among them The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Denver Center, Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Repertory, The Old Globe, Arena Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, Northlight Theatre, Geffin Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Meadowbrook Theatre, Crossroads Theatre, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, B.B. King's, Manhattan Ensemble Theatre, New Victory Theatre, the Little Shubert, and the Promenade in New York City, and many others.

SAM ANDREW (Music Direction) is the founding member of Big Brother and the Holding Company, a band that still tours around the world.  In connection with Love, Janis, Mr. Andrew does interviews almost daily in print, radio and television.  During his career as musician and composer, Mr. Andrew has had three platinum albums, two hit singles and his pieces, written before, during and after Janis' tenure with Big Brother, have been used in numerous major motion picture soundtracks and documentaries.  Mr. Andrew studied composition and arranging at The New School and Mannes School of Music in New York City.

For further information, visit www.lovejanisthemusical.com.

About Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills

Originally named the Fox Wilshire, the Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills opened its doors on
September 19, 1930. Designed by renowned theater architect Charles S. Lee, the Wilshire serves as an interesting example of Lee's early Art Deco style. With its rich plasterwork and heavy sculpture, the Wilshire is reminiscent of Lee's other early work like the Baroque masterpiece The Los Angeles Theater and the Tower. Lee would later become famous for his clean simple Art Deco lines with theaters like the Bruin and the Academy.

Fox West Coast Theaters built The Wilshire to house their first run feature films. For the first 50 years of its life, the Wilshire served as one of the premiere movie palaces in Los Angeles and has hosted numerous premieres and special events. In November 1953 the Wilshire hosted the premiere of How to Marry A Millionaire starring Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall. On Christmas Day of that year Walt Disney exhibited its new Grand Canyonscope - the first Donald Duck cartoon in Cinemascope which ran with the studio's classic feature 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Other notable events include 1960's special screening of GI Blues starring Elvis and attended by Ronald Regan and the 1970's exclusive engagement of the film Woodstock.

In 1981 the Wilshire Theater was renovated and converted to a stage venue.  The Wilshire has hosted numerous theater productions including its opening attraction of Henry Fonda in The Oldest Living Graduate, and national tours of The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, A Chorus Line, Jesus Christ Superstar, Legends, Dreamgirls, Once on this Island and many others.

Photo Credit Alley Theatre

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