‘Blues Brothers’ coming to the Ritz Theatre
Published 4:20 pm Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The guys “on a mission from God” will soon be showing up in the Camellia City.
The Greenville Area Arts Council and the Ritz Theatre will host “The Official Blues Brothers Revue” Monday.
The live concert show combines the comedy and the hits from the original movie and pays homage to Chicago’s rich history of blues, gospel and soul music, according to the show’s Website.
Wayne Catania and Kieron Lafferty play Jake and Elwood and have made a name for themselves as two of the most authentic and dynamic Blues Brothers performers in country. The duo got its start in the award-winning Las Vegas show “Legends in Concert” performing in showrooms and theatres from coast to coast.
After filmmaker Paul Jay saw the two perform, he recruited them for his docudrama “Lost in Las Vegas”: The story of two performers trying to survive and raise families in a city whose only value is making money.
The film caught the attention of Victor Pisano and Judy Belushi Pisano who then asked Catania and Lafferty to audition for the stage musical “The Official Blues Brothers Revival.”
“We learned that day how hard it is to do what John and Dan did,” Judy Belushi Pisano was quoted as saying.
“Some looked the part but nobody had the whole package until Kieron and Wayne arrived.”
The “The Official Blues Brothers Revival” ran successfully in Chicago in the spring and summer of 2004.
From that show was born “The Official Blues Brothers Revue.”
On Monday, Greenville-area residents will have the chance to see Jake and Elwood in action.
“This show has been officially sanctioned by John Belushi’s estate and by Dan Ackroyd and I think it is something everyone will enjoy,” said Nancy Idland, GAAC executive director.
Tickets for GAAC shows are $20 for adults and $15 for students and can be purchased at The Pineapple.
The show is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.