Previews: JUST ONE LOOK at Midnight Company At The Blue Strawberry Showroom And Lounge

The Midnight Company will open its 2023 season with what is becoming the most highly anticipated event of the coming St. Louis theatre season. The company's first show is the world premiere of a theatrical cabaret show JUST ONE LOOK based on the life of pop superstar Linda Ronstadt written by Midnight's artistic director Joe Hanrahan. In the 1970s Ronstadt was the queen of the pop charts and would sell out stadiums worldwide. Ronstadt's hits included, "When Will I Be Loved," "You're No Good" "It's so Easy," "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," "Blue Bayou" and dozens more hits that topped the pop charts. She was featured on the cover of The Rolling Stone magazine six times. When Cameron Crowe wrote his 1976 article for The Rolling Stone, Ronstadt had three consecutive platinum albums and there was no bigger name in music on the planet. BroadwayWorld had the opportunity to sit down with Kelly Howe who will play Linda Ronstadt and playwright, director and actor Joe Hanrahan who will play an aging reporter who finally gets his long-coveted interview with Ronstadt.

Hanrahan and Howe shared that for all of Ronstadt's commercial success and the household name that she once was, her absence from the music business has resulted in younger generations not having an awareness of her music. Ronstadt was forced into an abrupt retirement due to her battle with Parkinson's Disease that has robbed her of her voice. Howe said, "I'm finding that people in their 30's don't know who she (Ronstadt) is." Hanrahan shared that this production gives us the opportunity to educate the younger generation on an artist who had an amazing voice. Baby Boomers and early Generation X-ers, who remember her music, will have a great sense of nostalgia from this production and buy tickets based on their love of her music. But this production gives Hanrahan and Howe the opportunity to introduce an incredible catalogue of music to younger generations of music lovers and theatre goers who may be less familiar with Ronstadt's work.

JUST ONE LOOK was born out of the success of last's season show ST LOUIS WOMAN that was the first musical cabaret venture for Midnight Company. Hanrahan approached Howe and asked her if she would be interested in teaming up on another show in this style. It was the perfect meeting of the minds when they both identified that Linda Ronstadt would be an ideal subject for a biopic cabaret show with a theatrical narrative. That's when Hanrahan created the second character in the show, a fictional aging rock 'n roll reporter who has long loved Ronstadt and her music. The reporter introduces Ronstadt and drives the narrative of the singer's life and career, including the musical styles she conquered, her personal relationships with California Governor Jerry Brown and George Lucas, and her political activism that was bred from her relationship with Brown. Howe takes on the heavy lift of singing the catalogue of music from an artist with a prolific range.

When asked about taking on the role of Ronstadt, Howe shared, "When I was working in piano bars in New York City I would sing her music and try to emulate her voice." Howe shared that Ronstadt's big range can be intimidating and that the music that will pose her the biggest challenge is the music from the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. Ronstadt starred in the 1981 revival on Broadway and the subsequent movie version with Rex Smith and St. Louis' own Kevin Kline. Howe's favorite Ronstadt music to perform are her ballads "Long Long Time" and "Desperado." "I like her work as a balladeer, but I also love singing her rock stuff," Howe told BroadwayWorld.

Midnight Company is partnering with The Blue Strawberry Showroom and Lounge for this show because it is the perfect space for this production according to Hanrahan. It's a proscenium with elevated stage and has cabaret seating for about 100 people, Hanrahan shared. He said, "there is no space in St. Louis that is better suited for this production." The Blue Strawberry has the space to accommodate the band to back up Howe and allows for the space for the journalist character to advance the plot moving the narrative along.

JUST ONE LOOK will play at The Blue Strawberry on three consecutive Wednesdays in 2023, March 1st, 8th and the 15th. The Blue Strawberry Showroom and Lounge is located at 364 N Boyle Ave in the Central West End. For more information about JUST ONE LOOK and the rest of Midnight Company's 2023 season, visit midnightcompany.com.