Register to Win
Congratulations to Joseph C. for winning the December 2007 Register-to-win. Stay tuned for this month's contest starting next week!
A pair of tickets to the Sunday, February 3 performance of the Alley Theatre's Love, Janis at 7:30 p.m.
Caution: Recommended for mature audiences.
Inspired by the book "Love, Janis" by Laura Joplin.
A musical about Janis Joplin, Port Arthur, Texas’ most famous daughter, Love, Janis goes behind the music of the legendary rock/blues singer. Following her life from 1966 until her death in 1970, Love, Janis features performances of many of her smash hits: “Piece of My Heart,” “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Mercedes Benz” and “Ball and Chain” resulting in a compelling portrait of an artist who wanted to be remembered for her music and her refusal to compromise.
The greatest white female rock singer of the 1960’s, Janis Joplin was also a great blues singer. First rising to stardom as frontwoman for San Francisco psychedelic band Big Brother and the Holding Company – and then as a solo artist, she created some of the most exciting performances of the era. She also did much to redefine the role of women in rock with her assertive, sexually forthright persona and raunchy, electrifying onstage presence.
Joplin was raised in Port Arthur, TX and much of her subsequent personal struggle has been attributed to her inability to fit in with the expectations of what she perceived to be a conservative community. She began singing folk and blues music in her teens, and her early style showed a marked influence of Bessie Smith and other early blues singers. When she moved to San Francisco, she fully developed her own personal style. For years, her life was tumultuous - drugs and alcohol and volatile personal relationships – but her musicianship showed solid growth toward her mature style in blues, soul and folk-rock. Some of her last recordings – “Mercedes Benz”, “Get it While You Can” and “Me and Bobby McGee” are among her best. Sadly, she died before her last album’s release, overdosing on heroin in a Hollywood hotel in 1971.
Janis’ warm, exuberant, letters to her concerned family form the heart of the show, propelled by her extraordinary music.
The December 2007 contest is closed. Entries received after the closing of the contest will be included for the following contest.
Special thanks to the Alley Theatre. To view more of the their season, please visit alleytheatre.org.
