{"id":411048,"date":"2026-09-26T05:32:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T05:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/411048\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T05:32:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T05:32:24","slug":"say-hello-to-american-stages-janis-joplin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/411048\/","title":{"rendered":"Say hello to American Stage\u2019s Janis Joplin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blues\/rock singer Janis Joplin\u2019s predilection for swigging Southern Comfort onstage, straight from the bottle, was part of her rough \u2018n\u2019 tumble legend.<\/p>\n

In the concert musical A Night With Janis Joplin, at American Stage through Oct. 11, Laura Frye tops off Joplin\u2019s boozy swagger with hits from an ever-present bottle of the very same whiskey liqueur.<\/p>\n

This is singer\/actress Frye\u2019s second time portraying the talented but self-destructive legend in playwright Randy Johnson\u2019s popular show.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s really in that bottle? \u201cThe first time we did it, it was warm water with four drops of brown food dye,\u201d Frye laughs. \u201cThis time, they\u2019ve allowed me warm tea with honey. And I\u2019m always hoping that one day someone\u2019s going to surprise me with actual Southern Comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n

The balance between art and artifice is especially important for a performer stepping into well-known shoes. It\u2019s got to look right, sound right and feel right, but come across as more than a strict impersonation.<\/p>\n

Frye, who hails from Woodstown, N.J., was a musical theater kid who discovered pop and rock singing almost as an afterthought. At Muhlenberg College, in Pennsylvania, \u201cI was in an a cappella group, and that took me away from singing more classical musical theater, and more toward pop music. And I kind of just discovered that it came quite naturally to me. And I was getting a positive response from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She began to tackle the harder stuff while sitting in with her uncle\u2019s rock \u2018n\u2019 roll band, and found it really suited her voice.<\/p>\n

Frye (whose resume of regional theater work includes The Rocky Horror Show, Waitress, The Perfect Mate, Aspects of Love and more) was brought in to assay the Joplin role after appearances at Sarasota\u2019s Florida Studio Theatre earlier this year. She was the \u201calternate\u201d Janis, who performed two nights a week. Francesca Ferrari, \u201cregular\u201d Janis, became a good friend and mentor (at American Stage, Ryan Joustra steps in as Joplin for Saturday matinees).<\/p>\n

FST credentials \u2013 and the accompanying acclaim from fans and critics \u2013 brought Frye to the attention of American Stage. Celine Rosenthal is directing the St. Pete edition of A Night With Janis Joplin.<\/p>\n

\u201cCeline really encouraged me to bring more of myself to the role, rather than trying to just be an impersonator of Janis Joplin,\u201d Frye explains. \u201cAnd there\u2019s a whole lot of monologues in the show, so that made me feel way more at ease. Like I can really just talk to the audience and be myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I have a little bit of a Janis-esque Texas accent when I speak. I\u2019ve watched so many Janis video interviews, and I feel it can come naturally to me. And I can blend myself and Janis Joplin pretty effortlessly now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nobody, Frye enthuses, can duplicate the power and passion of Joplin\u2019s full-tilt blues voice. \u201cJanis had her voice and I have mine. And I don\u2019t think people really want to sit and listen to a singer trying to emulate somebody that they\u2019re not.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love singing Janis\u2019 music. And hopefully that comes across, and everybody can feel it as much as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The star is quick to point out that there are other people making the A Night With Janis Joplin experience. Along with a full rock band, four singers \u2013 Syreeta S. Banks, Delores McKenzie, Canela Vasquez and Ariel Blue \u2013 appear as Nina Simone, Bessie Smith, Odetta, Aretha Franklin and others, singing (and helping to sing) some of the songs that inspired Joplin on her musical journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis show,\u201d Frye enthuses, \u201csays it\u2019s the Janis Joplin show. But really, at the heart of it, are the people that encouraged Janis to make music, and make it her own way. They gave her the freedom to take their music and make it her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether the people that these girls represent were even alive at the same time or not, this show is a place where we all get to be onstage together, and make music together. Which is something really incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

For all showtimes and tickets, visit this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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