As with all performers, Mary Bridget Davies“ upcoming tour dates were either cancelled or rescheduled. However, the Tony Award Nominee and her record company, Broadway Records decided that the show must go on! The album, Stay With Me: The Reimagined Songs Of Jerry Ragovoy was still released on March 22nd despite the unfortunate events surrounding the date. Davies gave her first VIRTUAL concert and will begin a virtual tour – direct from her living room. Davies will also raise funds for performing arts venues and performance organizations affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
On March 25th, amidst the uncertainty of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Mary Bridget Davies performed a virtual happy-hour concert via the official Janis Joplin Facebook page to give her (and Janis) fans a little break from these challenging times. The event reached 150,000 people within two hours!
Not only was Davies able to perform some Janis classics, but she was able to share music from the new album, Stay With Me: The Reimagined Songs Of Jerry Ragovoy. Jerry Ragovoy, passed away in 2011 and was the legendary songwriter behind Joplin classics like “Piece Of My Heart”“ and “Cry Baby”“. The success of the broadcast prompted her producer and manager, TJ Armand along with her record label, Broadway Records to consider this as a fund-raising opportunity for many venues and organizations who are struggling with canceled shows. The Tony Nominee feels that there“s literally nothing better and more rewarding to do than using her voice to sing for those organizations who need help, while doing what she loves to do best: Performing!
Stay With Me: The Reimagined Songs of Jerry Ragovoy features a standout assortment of unreleased archival songs such as “Master Of Disguise”“ and the recently released track “The Right Of Way”“, which debuted last October. The album also includes new arrangements of classics such as “As Long As I Have You”“, “Move Me No Mountain”“, “Don“t Compromise Yourself”“, “Getting In My Way”“, and a stunning reinvention of “Stay With Me”“, originally recorded by Lorraine Ellison and reintroduced by Bette Midler in the 1979 film, The Rose. The next featured track, “As Long As I Have You”“ will be released by Broadway Records in conjunction with the album, and offers a smart twist on the song by keeping the gender pronouns consistent and making the “you”“ of the song Davies herself ”” a clever and insightful take on the concept of self-love.
Mr. Ragovoy had a string of hits including Janis Joplin“s “Piece Of My Heart,”“ “Cry Baby,”“ “Try, Just A Little Bit Harder,”“ and the fan-favorite “Time Is on My Side,”“ originally recorded by Kai Winding and made famous by The Rolling Stones.
Album producer TJ Armand, a protege of the late Grammy® winning producer and Atlantic Records“ Vice President Arif Mardin, is a Joplin devotee so captivated by Davies“ Broadway performance, he conceived of the project immediately after meeting her and got it underway in an ambitiously fast-tracked two-month timespan. Ragovoy“s widow, Bev Ragovoy, entrusted Armand with Jerry“s entire 200+ archive and gave unrestricted access to all his unreleased material.
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MARY BRIDGET DAVIES started singing at blues jams in Cleveland and in 2005 won the lead role for a touring production of Love, Janis. She has toured in Europe with Janis Joplin“s original band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and in 2012, Davies took over the lead role in A Night with Janis Joplin on tour. She stayed with the show when it ultimately moved to Broadway in 2013, earning Tony and Helen Hayes Award nominations for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance. Davies has also toured with the musical revue It Ain“t Nothin“ But the Blues and performed at SXSW and a four-night residency in Pasadena, CA, where she was joined by The Doors“ Robby Krieger, Slash, The MC5“s Wayne Kramer, and Gnarls Barkley.
JERRY RAGOVOY was the legendary songwriter for such hits as Janis Joplin”˜s “Piece Of My Heart”“, “Cry Baby”“ and “Try, Just A Little Bit Harder”“. He was also known for his composition “Time Is on My Side,”“ made famous by The Rolling Stones after initial recordings by Kai Winding and Irma Thomas. He is well known for “Stay With Me,”“ originally recorded by Lorraine Ellison and reintroduced by Bette Midler in her film The Rose and memorably performed by Mary J. Blige at the 49th Grammy Awards. HBO recently featured “Piece Of My Heart”“ in its series Big Little Lies starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon.
TJ ARMAND (Producer) is a protégé of the late Grammy Award-winning producer Arif Mardin. Armand assisted Mr. Mardin at Atlantic Records on recording projects of legendary artists such as Bette Midler, Roberta Flack, Michael Crawford, Dionne Warwick, Chaka Khan and, and the original Broadway cast recording of Rent. He received a full scholarship from Berklee College of Music and has produced various stage and concert productions such as Master Class, Nina Simone Four Women, and Broadway’s Next Hit Musical. In 2015, he formed Armand & Paiva Productions with his partner Carl Paiva, and they were among the producers and investors for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 with Josh Groban (Broadway) and Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. As the former Executive Director of The 44th Annual Bermuda Festival, Armand’s concert production credits include Chaka Khan, The Manhattan Transfer, The Queen’s Six and many more.
Broadway Records (Van Dean, President) is the Grammy® winning record label dedicated to preserving musical theatre and theatre vocalists. Recent releases include the Grammy® and Tony Award-winning The Color Purple (2015 revival), the Tony Award® winning and Grammy® nominated revival of Once On This Island, the Grammy® nominated Matilda The Musical, Fiddler on the Roof (2015 revival) and My Fair Lady (2018 revival), Anastasia, Bandstand, Groundhog Day, The Lightning Thief and NBC“s television events, “The Wiz Live!”“ and “Peter Pan Live!”“. The label“s critically-acclaimed “Live at Feinstein“s/54 Below”“ series features top Broadway stars including Patti LuPone, Aaron Tveit, Annaleigh Ashford, Norbert Leo Butz, Sierra Boggess, Laura Benanti, Emily Skinner & Alice Ripley, Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp, Micky Dolenz and many others. Broadway Records launched the Broadway for Orlando initiative (in partnership with creators Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley) culminating in the all-star benefit single, “What the World Needs Now is Love,”“ which leaped to #1 on iTunes with no radio airplay. Broadway Records philanthropic endeavors also include the From Broadway With Love benefit concerts for Sandy Hook, Orlando (Emmy Award for Sound) and Parkland. To learn more, visit BroadwayRecords.com.
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