Love, Janis

Mr. B and I went to see "Love, Janis" at the Alley Theatre last night. We have season tickets as a way to have a guaranteed 'date night'. I didn't know what to expect but knew it was about Janis Joplin. When we arrived at the theatre and saw they were offering earplugs, I was truly intrigued. Wow. What a show. Loud. Interesting. And, well, rockin' as they did 16 Janis Joplin songs interspersed (did I spell that right?!) with letters from Janis to her family. At one point, the entire theatre was singing along to "Mercedes Benz". How cool is that?! I highly recommend it to all in the Houston area. Unless, that is, you absolutely abhor Janis Joplin. Then it wouldn't be such a good thing.

In the midst of the music, I had a memory of Stokes cabin, a rousing game of Songburst and us, the product of the mid-70s, trying to finish the line "Freedom's just another word for ........." and not knowing the answer. From outside we hear Stokes' dad answer "nothing left to lose". I think amongst the alcohol and competition, we'd forgotten he was there. I do remember cheering for him and his wisdom in Janis Joplin lyrics. BTW--Happy Birthday Stokes! Tell your dad I say "Hi" and that "Janis Lives" (as an aside, Stokes and I were roommates before we put together that our parents had lived in the same small town and gone to school together. yet another for the chapter on "It's a Small World")