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hansom_mike: England!... it’s coming home! And the tears @collettecooper
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hansom_mike: England!... it’s coming home! And the tears @collettecooper
28/09/2014
new fave sips tea reaction pic thanks collette 💕
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Collette Cooper-Tomorrow May Be My Last
Tomorrow May Be My Last
Thursday, May 27th, my first Live gig since last March, well not quite. In truth its a stage show, a pilot that has run over 6 nights in a small theatre in Camberwell, The Golden Goose. The show, written and starring Collette Cooper, recently featured here in BiB, is a mix of monologue and music, with Collette in the roll of Janis Joplin, a free spirit, looking back over her brief life.
The cast is moderate, a few ‘hippies’, flowers in their hair, in the corner, the band, hit the right note, with kaftans, and bandanna’s. ‘Janis’, fully beaded, bangled, and draped, the story unfolds alongside the changes of clothes, the ‘changing room’, a clothes rail at the rear. We’re taken through her rejection of life in Port Arthur, a career maybe then settling as home maker, baking bread, making her parents happy. Her philosophy is, ’Tomorrow May Be My Last’, live for the moment.
‘63, and 17 years old, she’s in Austen, working the bars, singing the blues, finding an an affinity with Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Billie Holiday. A misfit destined to be drawn like a moth to the bright lights of San Francisco, peace and love, but alcohol, LSD, and meths take there toll, she returns home, wasted, almost changes her destiny. The show is very audience reactive, you’re part of the scene, as the show plays out. The band fire up, Collette explodes into, ‘My Baby’. Soon back on the road, we look under our seats and find maracas and tambourines, for a bit of audience participation, it’s my choice Joplin ditty, ‘Mercedes Benz’, we all join in, both gruff and smooth. We’re reminded of the hippy ‘guru’, Chet Helms, and Haight Ashbury, the road to stardom is indeed a rocky road, with more up and downs than a big dipper, to many highs and lows, the ‘Kozmic Blues’, roll on.
Monterey, in ‘67 Janis is at her zenith, it was the age of Aquarius, 200,000 fans, in a time of change, ‘Ball & Chain’ rattles through. The show’s title song rolls out beautifully, a gorgeous ballad, everything is on a high, a gold record, notoriety or fame, you decide, but here’s a ‘Piece Of My Heart’, to hold onto, go on, take it. Woodstock will forever stand as a monument to to both Hendrix and Joplin, both with fuses set to be oh so short. We’re left with, ‘Me And Bobby McGee’, as the show plays out to its end, Collette has delivered Joplin’s music with all the acerbic fizz and energy, you could want, for just a short time, Collette Cooper, is Janis Joplin.
Readers here, will all be familiar with the incendiary legend of Joplin, the turbulent life, her ascendancy, into stardom, sadly leaving her mortal body behind, after a mere 27 years. The show is fascinating, the monologue peppered with the profanities that Janis was so liberal with. But, you cannot have a Joplin reprise without the music, and Collette delivers in style, her unique vocal qualities, dovetail into the role, fitting like a Saville Row suit. The Evenings have seen full houses in this little theatre, moderate acoustics, offset by the cosy ambience, we can all be hippies for a moment here. A Pearl has been picked up, and put back in its setting, its lustre still shining through, I really hope the show finds its way into the art theatres around the country. It’s hard to believe its now over 50 years since Janis Joplin died, alone in her hotel room, but the legend and her legacy lives on, Tomorrow My Be My Last, is a fitting reminder for those who remember, a visceral storey for those too young to have travelled that road.
Check Collette’s site for news of future shows, a must if your a Joplin fan
https://www.collettecooper.com/
Words & Photos Graham Munn