'Love, Janis' Premieres in San Francisco for 8 Weeks

Love, Janis -- a new musical celebrating the life and music of rock legend Janis Joplin -- makes its Bay Area premiere at San Francisco's Marines Memorial Theatre for a limited 8-week engagement beginning July 7th. Tickets go on sale Sunday, May 21st.

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. The limited eight-week engagement begins Friday, July 7th with a press opening scheduled for Sunday, July 16th.

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 many 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, Joplin's band.

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 "even Aristotle might rock out of his robes at 'Love, Janis.'"

Love, Janis will play San Francisco's Marines Memorial Theatre (609 Sutter Street, 2nd floor) Friday, July 7th through Sunday, September 3rd. Opening night is Sunday, July 16th at 7 pm. Performances are: Tuesday through Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 5 & 9 pm and Sunday at 3 & 7 pm. (There will be no 3 p.m. performance on July 9th or 16th).

Tickets range in price from $35-$67 for regular performances. Reduced-price previews (July 7th-15th) are $30 for all seats. Tickets go on sale Sunday, May 21st at the Marines Memorial Theatre box office, by phone at 415-771-6900, and on the web at ticketmaster.com.

For further information, visit www.marinesmemorialtheatre.com.

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 Director): Founding member of Big Brother and the Holding Company, a band that still tours around the world. 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.

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