The Saddest Club of All

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More About

• Robert Johnson
• Kurt Cobain
• Jonathan Brandis
• Jimi Hendrix
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Generally speaking, the 27th birthday isn’t particularly special. You have long passed the legal drinking age, so nobody is pressuring you to choke down test tubes of Jägermeister. The quarter-century feels like a more significant landmark (cheaper car insurance rates!) and is worthy of a no-holds-barred commemoration. The typical 27th birthday party comes with cake, ice cream, and a potent shot of apathy.

For many famous musicians and artists, though, reaching one score and seven years of age has proven to be an impossible hurdle. The so-called 27 Club includes Rolling Stone Brian Jones, legendary bluesman Robert Johnson, graffiti-influenced neo-expressionist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Ladybugs star Jonathan Brandis. But the club’s most famous members are Sixties rockers Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison – musicians whose deaths signified the end of an era of well-intentioned excess. More recently, reluctant grunge god Kurt Cobain joined the tragic and druggy clique. 27 Heaven, a play that opens tonight at the Colony Theater, imagines those four legendary musicians sharing wisdom in the rock and roll afterlife, although Ian Halperin’s play is more edgy satire than glowing eulogy. The play runs through January 1. Tickets range from $27 to $42. Call 305-674-1040, or visit www.27heaven.com.
Dec. 27-Jan. 1