Bessie Smith News

Equal parts folk songwriter and roots rocker, Bill Eberle makes forward-thinking music that nods to the past while still pushing ahead.

This summer, the Alley Theatre will produce Agatha Christie's Spider's Web during its popular ExxonMobil Summer Chills Series July 12 - August 14. In addition, the Alley is launching a new Summer Thrills Series inviting audiences to the concert musical - A Night With Janis Joplin - the first rock & roll theatre piece on the new Hubbard stage, August 19 - September 18, 2016. Tickets will go on sale June 1 and will be available online (alleytheatre.org) or by phone (713.220.5700).

Today, May 16, the RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA teams with POPMATTERS.com to premiere the lead single 'I'm Not Your Friend' off their long-awaited debut roots-infused album GEM (out Friday, June 24). Click here to check it out.

Broadway's critically-acclaimed musical A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN, a music-filled live show celebrating Janis Joplin and her biggest musical influences, brings its national tour to Nashville, performing at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's James K. Polk Theater today, April 15 and tomorrow, April 16, 2016.

The Colony Hotel - which The Palm Beach Post has hailed as "probably the best place for cabaret on the planet" - is doing something completely different this year. For the first time in the 15-year history of the Royal Room, the world famous cabaret will not close at the end of "season" but will continue offering extraordinary entertainers straight-through the summer months with dinner shows every Friday and Saturday night.

I'll admit to only a passing familiarity with Janis Joplin before I saw the current show at the 5th Avenue Theatre, “A Night with Janis Joplin”, in that I knew who she was but was hard pressed to come up with any of her songs. Of course, after seeing the show I found I knew more of her stuff than I thought, I just didn't know it was her. And while Kacee Clanton as Janis is quite a sight to see not to mention the other incredible women she has up there with her, the show as a whole doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it a biography, a rock concert, a history of blues? Who can say? But what I can say is that the connecting dialog attempting some kind of through line for the show was at best boring and at worst forced and embarrassing.

As adept as he is on the drums - and make no mistake about it, Danny Young is headbangingly assertive and confident on the aforementioned drum kit - it might surprise you to know that at the ripe old age of eight, he actually started out as a singer in his family's quartet. And, to top it all off, he got his start in the business of show as a boy soprano.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will present the Midwest premiere of A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN to the St. Paul stage March 29-April 3 as part of a 34-city North American tour.

Resonance Records with the cooperation of National Public Radio (NPR) is proud to announce the release of Sarah Vaughan - Live At Rosy's, New Orleans on March 25th, 2016.

The 5th Avenue Theatre presents the critically-acclaimed Broadway musical, A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN, beginning tonight, March 25, in Seattle.

Hudson Guild Theatre Company presents a new production of Eugene O'Neill's' classic American play THE ICEMAN COMETH.  

I was pretty excited to see this show, I do not usually look anything up about a show if I do not know a whole lot about it; I like to go in completely blind. But a minute into this show I started to panic, I knew nothing about Janis Joplin. I guess I should have known from the title what I was in for, but I expected it to be a play where I would learn about her (a la Jersey Boys style), but this was a rock concert, so I started to feel like I would not be able to do a good job reviewing this show. I mean I'm a 90's baby. The first album I ever bought was a two-disc compilation of Britney Spears and 'N SYNC songs, followed by Spiceworld. So what would I know about a 60's rock and roll singer with a love for the blues?

Primary Stages announced their upcoming 32nd Season on March 14 at a champagne reception celebrating the Centennial of the birth of late Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Primary Stages collaborator, Horton Foote.

Starting rehearsals at The 5th Avenue Theatre this week is the critically-acclaimed Broadway musical, A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN.

Hudson Guild Theatre Company presents a new production of Eugene O'Neill's' classic American play THE ICEMAN COMETH.  

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will present the Midwest premiere of A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN to the St. Paul stage March 29-April 3 as part of a 34-city North American tour.

The three-day 2016 ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre Workshop in Partnership with DreamWorks Animation and The Wallis concluded tonight with a special scholarship presentation by ASCAP Workshop Artistic Director and Tony, Oscar and Grammy Award-winner Stephen Schwartz. Six recipients - Mina Bloom, Rachel Gilbert, Tristan McIntyre, Dylan Schifrin, Bailey Share-Aizic and Juan Solis - were invited onto the stage of the Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis to receive a combined $5,000 in scholarship funds to be applied to furthering their studies in musical theater and songwriting.

?Like a comet that burns far too brightly to last, Janis Joplin exploded onto the music scene in 1967 and, almost overnight, became the queen of rock & roll. The unmistakable voice, filled with raw emotion and tinged with Southern Comfort, made her a must-see headliner from Monterey to Woodstock.

Gary Naylor sees a fine performance in a concert / play that shines a light on a somewhat neglected but important figure in the 1960s counterculture.