Joplin Musical gets permanent home off-Broadway

CHEAP THRILLS REDUX: Following a Broadway run that ended last month and a traveling production, the acclaimed musical A Night With Janis Joplin will have what’s described as a permanent home off-Broadway. The producers, including Michael Cohl, have partnered with Live Nation in putting together a redesigned, concert-like staging of the show at live music venue the Gramercy Theatre at 23rd and Lexington, with the opening set for 4/10. Mary Bridget Davies will reprise her title role; she’ll be joined by members of the Broadway cast, including an eight-piece rock band that’s way better than Big Brother & the Holding Company, along with her “Joplinaires”—female vocalists who provide the voices of the blues and soul singers who influenced Joplin, including Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Odetta, Nina Simone and Bessie Smith. Writer-director Randy Johnson will also return. (3/18a)