As Janis Joplin, Mary Bridget Davies leaves more than a piece of her heart onstage
Mary Bridget Davies conducted an act of sorcery in the opening-night performance of “A Night With Janis Joplin” on Tuesday at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
Far more than an exhibition of expert mimicry, Davis fully inhabited the spirit of the iconic rock star. Many of the approximately 1,000 baby boomers in attendance might have been convinced that the ill-fated Joplin had magically returned to life.
Before starring in the musical that opened on Broadway in 2013, Davies was a heralded Kansas City-based blues artist. Her band won a competition hosted by the Kansas City Blues Society and traveled to Memphis, Tenn., in 2011 to represent the group at the International Blues Challenge.
She has found her true calling in the lead role of “A Night With Janis Joplin.” Although her costumes and makeup couldn’t disguise the fact that Davies looks a lot more like celebrity chef Rachael Ray than the late vocalist, Davies flawlessly replicated Joplin’s mannerisms and distinctive voice.
Davies and the eight-piece band that accompanied her may be too good. Although the suggestion is heretical, their rendition of “Summertime” was even more soulful and heartbreaking than the famous version of the standard by Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company.
As Joplin, Davies sang like a fallen angel and cursed like a drunken sailor. And she addressed the audience as she recounted Joplin’s aspirations and disappointments.
A tiered stage provided an ideal forum to showcase Joplin’s musical inspirations. Four additional actresses play the women who galvanized Joplin. Tawny Dolley revived Etta James with smoldering intensity. Jennifer Leigh Warren’s turn as a blues singer was similarly compelling. Q. Smith belted out a roof-raising rendition of “Spirit in the Dark” in the role of Aretha Franklin. After Cicily Daniels re-created Odetta’s reading of “Down on Me,” Davies offered her psychedelic spin on the song. The contrast allowed the audience to share in Joplin’s thrilling creative process.
While these moments resembled a concert starring a loquacious performer as much as a theatrical production, “A Night With Janis Joplin” is burdened by a couple of hokey elements. The supporting actresses were far too campy when they acted as Joplin’s backing vocalists.
The sugarcoating of Joplin’s excesses and death in 1970 at age 27 are even more baffling. Her death is foreshadowed, but instead of a selection that allows fans to lament Joplin’s demise, the show concludes with a garishly upbeat take on “I’m Gonna Rock My Way to Heaven” and a peppy singalong to “Mercedes Benz.”
It’s an odd ending to an otherwise mesmerizing show.
Onstage
“A Night With Janis Joplin” continues through Sunday at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. For more information, call 816-994-7222 or go to TheaterLeague.com/KansasCity.
This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 1:32 AM with the headline "As Janis Joplin, Mary Bridget Davies leaves more than a piece of her heart onstage."