BWW Reviews: Stellar Performances but No Story in 5th Ave's A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN

I'll admit to only a passing familiarity with Janis Joplin before I saw the current show at the 5th Avenue Theatre, "A Night with Janis Joplin", in that I knew who she was but was hard pressed to come up with any of her songs. Of course, after seeing the show I found I knew more of her stuff than I thought, I just didn't know it was her. And while Kacee Clanton as Janis is quite a sight to see not to mention the other incredible women she has up there with her, the show as a whole doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it a biography, a rock concert, a history of blues? Who can say? But what I can say is that the connecting dialog attempting some kind of through line for the show was at best boring and at worst forced and embarrassing.

There's really not much story to it as it's a performed under the guise of a concert from Janis Joplin. But in between the songs she tells about her childhood, career and the other blues greats who influenced her over the years, The Chantels, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Bessie Smith, Odetta, and Etta James. And as she talks about each of these women her back up singers transform into them to perform.

That's pretty much it. The connecting dialog is shoehorned in there, at times to disastrous effect. "I remember sharing a dark bedroom with my sister. And you know, Nina Simone really influenced me." I'm paraphrasing of course but seriously that was one of the moments. And even the bits that did convey some kind of information were so without gravitas, stakes or really any kind of conflict that they just amounted to a laundry list of "I did this" and "I went there" which was completely uninteresting and sounded less like banter at a concert and more like Joplin was reading from a biography of herself that someone else wrote, in this case that would be show creator, writer and director Randy Johnson. A biography, I might add, that barely touched on the inner turmoil of her short life that lead to her death.

But as I said the performances are amazing despite the book. Clanton is electric when singing and pulls off a killer Joplin impression. And extra special kudos to the other incredible ladies in the show, Yvette Cason, Sylvia MacCalla, Nova Payton, and Aurianna Tuttle who blew everyone away not only as the back up singers but as the influential divas of the blues. I especially have to mention Cason as Franklin and Payton who is credited as Blues Singer who absolutely brought the house down with their solos.

But that's the thing. There were really two different shows going on. One, an incredible look at blues divas with some outstanding performances and two, a lame and tepid look at the life of Joplin. And so with my three letter rating system I'm forced to give "A Night with Janis Joplin" two different ratings. A rocking YAY for the divas and a disinterested MEH for the biography. In fact with all the divas in the show other than Joplin it really should be called "A Night with Janis Joplin and the Ladies of the Blues" or better still just make the show a history of female blues singers and include Joplin. So if you're a fan of Joplin's music and want a kick ass revue of her songs along with some other amazing divas then this could be for you. If not, and you're looking for an in depth look into the life of a rock and roll legend then look elsewhere.

"A Night with Janis Joplin" performs at the 5th Avenue Theatre through April 17th. For tickets or information contact the 5th Avenue box office at 206-625-1900 or visit them online at www.5thavenue.org.

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