Love, Janis

I was never much of a Janis Joplin fan. I am familiar with her, naturally; I even found her intriguing enough to watch an episode of Behind the Music, full of letters read by her sister, and narration by Kris Kristofferson. But I couldn't say that I was that into her.

Until last night.

After Love, Janis - the off-Broadway show chronicling the last four years of her life, currently at the Alley Theater in Houston - I am a total convert. The show was simply amazing.

I loved it for the music. The performances. The costumes - exact duplicates of outfits Joplin really wore. I loved the woman who did the singing - they have two different women who alternate nights, because of the vocal strain - and I loved the woman who did the spoken parts.

Mostly, though, I loved that the show made Joplin very human. The letters she wrote to her family were very sincere. They talked about her career, about her music, her trials with her band, with her performances, her fatigue, her demons.

Mostly, though, they were letters from a daughter to her parents. Letters written about leaving home, missing family. Thanking her parents for Christmas and birthday gifts, wondering how her younger brother and sister were doing, reminding her mother to write more often. They were touching, at times poignant, as they seemed to be trying to maintain this connection between a life she once had - and didn't like much - and the life that she seemed to want but which overwhelmed her.

The end, of course, is no surprise. It's always tragic to watch someone so young end up self-destructing. She crammed a lot of life into her 27 years - maybe too much. Today the city of Port Arthur embraces her, but it took 18 years for them to acknowledge the death, or life, of their most famous former resident. While she may not be a role model for any generation, she made her mark, and it's worth noting.

I don't feel a real connection to her. But I did come away with somewhat of an affinity for Joplin, the woman, and her music. The show did what it aims to do; it presents a different Janis than the hard-edged musician you might have seen on stage. She is the Joplin you need to see, along with the concert Janis that is interspersed into the show. She's a Janis Joplin you won't forget.