When something is restaged, why not get a reviewer to revisit it? Jordon Jones re-reviews BLUE Experience, written and performed by Sophie Ricketts at Cloisters Studio, Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre, Saturday 23 March 2024.
I have previously reviewed Sophie Ricketts’ solo show BLUE Experience when she debuted it back in 2019; now, after several years of percolating and polishing, Sophie has brought her show back to Christchurch audiences and I am once again along for the journey. My previous viewing of the show was in Little Andromeda, but this time around she’s taken over the Cloisters Studio in Te Matatiki Toi Ora (otherwise known as The Arts Centre), which is a lovely and intimate performance space.
For those of you who missed this wonderful gem, BLUE Experience is a heartfelt exploration of Joni Mitchell’s highly acclaimed 1971 album Blue. Accompanied by pianist Kimberley Wood, Ricketts performs the songs from the album, interspersed with the context of Mitchell’s experiences which inspired the album; Joni Mitchell was writing her exes into hit songs long before Taylor Swift, and most of Blue’s tracks fit that mold. We also get a little peek at how Blue has been important in Ricketts’ own life, a love beginning when she was taking her first steps into adulthood.
In my initial review, I described BLUE Experience as a show that “clearly comes from the heart”, in which Ricketts “captures a lot of Mitchell’s vocal nuance” and “handles the tricky jumps and swoops that Mitchell loves to use with skill and confidence”. I also noted that “[t]he emotion in her eyes as she sings is a clear sign of the effect that Joni Mitchell has had on her, and the wholeheartedness of her performance”. That’s a fairly high bar already—how does the 2024 performance compare?
As before, I was captivated by the way Ricketts brings out the sweetness of Mitchell’s songwriting with powerful emotion. The album follows ups and downs from one song to the next, from being excited and in love to mourning the end of a relationship, and Ricketts conveys every different shade of mood along the way. You can still see how much she adores this album by the look in her eyes, and hear it in every note she sings. She has stepped up her performance, though—I noticed her leaning much more fully into characterising the stories of the songs. I really enjoyed this added element, as it gave me a chance to appreciate Ricketts’ acting chops (an activity I have partaken of on a number of occasions with great relish).
There was a slight hiccup in the show where a song nearly got skipped—this was a near miss indeed, as preserving the order of songs on one’s favourite album is serious business. However, far from being a disaster, Ricketts seamlessly made it a moment of connection with the audience with the ease and good humour of a seasoned performer; her conversational and engaging stage presence never faltered, even if her set list did.
I closed my previous review with the hope that Ricketts could be persuaded to bring back BLUE Experience to share her love for Joni Mitchell to more people; for this one, I say that it’s a jolly good thing she listened! It was an absolute treat to tag along for this voyage once again, and I hope it’s been just as satisfying a revisitation for Ricketts.
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