Randy Johnson
I will admit I had ulterior motives when offered a chance to interview Kelly McIntyre, the singer/actor who embodies the legendary Janis Joplin in A Night with Janis Joplin. As a vocalist with VO5, I have taken on some challenging vocal parts, from Robert Plant to Aretha. But, wow, Janis was in a league of her own. I played her onstage at Broom Street Theater years ago, in a Joel Gersmann play called A Piece of My Heart. I was in my early 20s, as McIntyre is now, and it was one of the most fulfilling — and exhausting — roles of my life. I chatted on the phone with McIntyre while she waited for a plane at Boston’s Logan Airport. She had some vocal tips, but I realize her most important insight about being Janis has to do with getting out of your head and letting the music take you places. Madison has one chance to see McIntyre strut her stuff on Nov. 12 at Overture Hall.
How many times have you done the show?
Around 250 times, over two years
Janis was gone before you were born. What was your exposure to her?
I had definitely listened to her more iconic hits, “Piece of My Heart” and “Cry, Baby.” But after I was cast I started listening to her deeper cuts. “Ball and Chain” is a beast of a song, pretty epic. And we do some songs that she wrote herself. I didn’t know any of this.
Janis exhibited such joy and freedom while performing, but her personal and emotional life was dark and messy. How do you embody that contradiction?
I definitely think she had a special place when she was onstage— that was the thing she loved doing the most. I think she was complicated and lonely and fed those things into addiction and depression and toxic relationships. I enjoy finding the joy onstage during the songs.
Does the show go to the dark places, or does it focus on the joy?
It’s pretty much a narration, a concert style musical, like her last concert, taking you through her childhood and her start through the music industry. The stories are intertwined and she’s interacting with her muses: Bessie Smith, Aretha, Etta James, Odetta. The singers in the show are powerhouses — one awesome singer after another.
How do you protect your voice from getting worn out?
I luckily have been taught a lot of tricks by the women that played the role before me. That helps me conserve my voice. I get a lot of sleep and use steam. And lemon, water and honey — the usual singer tricks. It’s about not hurting your voice. And there’s a trick you use with your soft palate where you don’t close it all the way.
Playing Janis is physically demanding. One reviewer wrote that you “literally threw yourself into the songs.” How do you keep your energy up?
The music just makes you go with it. It was very evident that you feel the music and let your body go with it. That’s how it was for Janis. Her body kind of went every which way and her hair the other. I kind of let my body do whatever it wants.
