Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Theater Review: Love, Janis

By Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions

A hurricane has descended upon Dallas and her name is Mary Bridget Davies. The first thing I did after seeing Dallas Summer Musicals' Love, Janis was Google her name and go to i-Tunes to see if I can download any music from what has got to be the most talented singer I have seen live in recent years. I was thoroughly disappointed to see she has neither a recording contract nor any music available for download. I am not alone in my reaction; the entire audience at the Majestic erupted in a concert-like fervor. Yes, we are saying the elegantly stodgy Majestic Theatre became a rock venue with people hollering, applauding, singing, dancing, and screaming at an artist no one ever heard of before till tonight. And we are talking about people not in their teens and twenties, but well dressed society people of a certain age! How could you not? Mary Bridget Davies is ferocious on stage; she devours each Janis Joplin lyric and makes it her own. She has the same raw intensity as Janis, yet she’s not mimicking her, she manages to break free and make the show her own. She is on a par with Bette Midler, Cher, Streisand, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Tina Turner, Christina, and Annie Lennox. She could play a stadium and still blow people sitting in the furthest back row out of their seat.

As I looked online, I did see other reviews of the show as it has toured across the country. Critics all over the country have raved about Ms. Davies, and have all commented about their disappointment to discover she has no record contract. She would have sold hundreds of albums at the theatre tonight if she had any. And with her touring across the country in this show she would be selling thousands of albums a week, something in this age of digital downloads many artists would envy. She thoroughly enthralled everyone present.

Since this is technically a musical I must review it as such. The musical is brilliant only because of Ms. Davies’ performance. The script is taken from actual letters and interviews of Janis Joplin and it doesn’t really tell us much more then what we would have already guessed: she felt like she never fit in, she wanted to please her mother, her loneliness fueled her craving for attention. The play is devised so that there are two Janis’: the singing Janis played by Ms. Davies, and the acting Janis played by Marisa Ryan. A couple of times the two are paired together to answer questions of an unseen interviewer played by Mike Regan. Marisa Ryan is a very capable actress but the material isn’t interesting enough for her to do much with. The few times Mary Bridget Davies delivered lines, she proved she was good enough of an actress, making Ms. Ryan’s acting Janis seem superfluous. The two roles could be combined into one.

The overall problem with the show as a musical is that Randal Myler who adapted and directed the musical used some very obvious stage devices to make things seem interesting and unfortunately they aren’t. An example: the acting Janis shoots up while the singing Janis performs. It was too obvious. The musical felt stagy. Things are only interesting if they aren’t predictable. The show is predictable. Even when Ms. Davies first comes on stage to sing one could tell that she was instructed to stand and make certain gestures. By the time she hit "Summertime," Ms. Davies had dropped most of the stage conventions and by Act 2 she was freely working the stage and that is when the hurricane force of talent pummeled the audience.

One thing to note: Because of the vocal demands for the singing Janis, Ms. Davies performs every other night. The other singer is Katrina Chester. They alternate performances. In the program I read that Ms. Chester has an extensive list of credits as a singer, so she should be good, but she has quite the competition in Ms. Davies. Speaking of bios, I was shocked to read in the program the following about Ms. Davies: “Five years ago, she discovered a passion for singing blues, rock and soul music…” FIVE YEARS AGO?! She has only been doing this for five years? She is a genius, she is accomplished, she is a virtuoso of the stage, and all in the last five years! WOW!

I never was much of a fan of Janis’ music personally, though I always understood why she was culturally and artistically relevant. After seeing Love, Janis I will go and buy a Janis Joplin album, but not because I’ve become a fan of hers but to remind me of the show and Mary Bridget Davies’ perfromance. Yes, that’s how good Ms. Davies is: she’s on a par with Janis Joplin.

The show runs until February 24. Call 214-631-ARTS for tickets or purchase online.

Pegasus News content partner - MBS Productions

Related stories

• Week in View: Campaign hyperbole edition (Feb. 22, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Arts > Fine Arts > Theater > Musicals
• Arts > Popular Music > Rock