Love, Janis was initially produced by the Denver Center Theater Company in May 1994, directed by Randal Myler. Onstage Janis was played by Laura Theodore and Catherine Curtin played the private Janis. Love, Janis was produced at the Zachary Scott Theatre Center, Austin, Texas, running in August 1997 through October 1997. Directed by Randal Myler, Andra Mitrovich played Janis as the soulful singer and Catherine Curtin portrayed the private woman. The musical also played at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York in 2000, as well as the Cleveland Playhouse and the Royal George Theatre in Chicago. Love, Janis opened Off-Broadway at the Village Theatre, New York City, opening on April 10, 2001 and closed on January 5, 2003 after over 700 performances. Directed by Randal Myler, Catherine Curtin starred as Janis, with alternating performances by Cathy Richardson and Andra Mitrovich. Production design was by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer and costumes were by Robert Blackman.
Regional productions
There were several regional productions that ran after the Off-Broadway production. The musical premiered on the West Coast at the San Diego Repertory Theatrein September 2001. A production played at the Marines Memorial Theater, San Francisco in July 2006, directed by Myler and with musical direction by former Big Brother And The Holding Company band member Sam Andrew. The San Francisco production included lighting by Bill Ham, the man behind the psychedelic light shows at the Avalon Ballroom and other venues in San Francisco in the 1960s. A production ran at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre in 2007, directed by Myler which featured Kacee Clanton and Mary Bridget Davies alternating as the singing Janis. The musical ran at the Alley Theatre, Houston Texas starting in January 2008, directed by Myler and starring Katrina Chester.
Concept
The musical was inspired by the best-selling book of the same name by sister Laura Joplin. Myler constructed the musical around the letters that Laura Joplin had given him. The musical begins in 1966, after Joplin has hitchhiked to San Francisco to join Big Brother and the Holding Company, and ends with her death in 1970. Her journey is told in her own words; the entire spoken text is quoted from Joplin's letters and interviews. Performances include many of Joplin's most famous songs, "Piece of My Heart", "Get It While You Can", "Me and Bobby McGee", "Ball and Chain" and "Mercedes Benz". Music direction for the Off-Broadway production was provided by Sam Andrew, founding member of Big Brother and the Holding Company. A soundtrack album, using the original music and with letters read by Catherine Curtin, has also been released.
