Kim Yarbrough, Alison Cusano Join ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN at Arena Stage

Following a critically acclaimed run at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater this past fall, One Night with Janis Joplin returns for a summer run. Leading the production is Mary Bridget Davies. Davies is joined by Sabrina Elayne Carten as the Blues Singer. Created, written and directed by Randy Johnson, the production is produced in partnership with The Pasadena Playhouse and Milwaukee Repertory Theater, in association with Todd Gershwin and Daniel Chilewich of One Night Productions, The Estate of Janis Joplin and Jeff Jampol of JAM, Inc. One Night with Janis Joplin runs June 21-August 11, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater.

Joining Davies and Carten on stage and providing backup vocals as the Joplinaires are Alison Cusano (Cohoes Music Hall's Hair), Shay Saint-Victor(Billie Holiday Theatre's Freeda Peoples) and Kim Yarbrough (season two finalist on NBC's The Voice). Cusano and Yarbrough are also alternates for Joplin and the Blues Singer, respectively.

Press performances of One Night with Janis Joplin are Saturday, June 22 at 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, June 23 at 2:00 p.m.; Tuesday, June 25 at 7:30 p.m. andThursday, June 27 at 8:00 p.m.

"One Night with Janis Joplin has been barnstorming across America and it's time to come back to Arena," shares Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith. "This powerful portrait of a seminal American artist brings many back to their youth while introducing others to this wildly original artist for the first time. There is nothing quite like hearing her voice blasting through the Mead Center for American Theater."

About One Night with Janis Joplin: 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. Packed with classic songs ("Piece of My Heart," "Summertime," "Mercedes Benz"), the show also shines the spotlight on trailblazers who influenced Janis-like Bessie Smith, Etta James and Aretha Franklin. Now, in a musical event featuring more than a dozen singers and band members, playwright-director Randy Johnson creates "a compelling portrait of an artist" (Culturemob) through the words, inspiration and music of one of America's greatest rock 'n' roll originals.

One Night with Janis Joplin features a live, on-stage band, featuring returning musicians Tyler Evans (keyboard), Stephen Flakus (guitar), Patrick Harry(bass), Ross Seligman (musical supervisor, guitar) and Mitch Wilson (drums), who performed with the show at Arena Stage this past fall. They are joined by D.C.-area based Dennis Ferry (trumpet), Scott Silbert (tenor sax) and S. Craig Taylor (trumpet), making their debuts with the company.

"Arena Stage has become one of my theatrical homes away from home, and I'm thrilled to be working with Molly, Edgar and the entire staff at Arena Stage again," adds Johnson. "After the incredible critical response we received this past fall, I am confident that audiences are ready to embrace Janis and her legacy again. I feel as if the D.C. audiences are my old friends, and I can't wait to see them all again and return home with One Night with Janis Joplin."

"Every performance of One Night with Janis Joplin is like a family homecoming for me," says 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."

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