LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL by Carol Kaufman Segal

           

A new production of the Tony award-winning Broadway play, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & GrillI is playing at the Garry Marshall Theatre in Burbank.   Lady Day is the nickname that was given to American jazz singer, Billy Holliday (1915-1959).

           

Billy Holliday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem and was discovered by producer John Hammond.  She became a successful jazz recording artist in the 1930’s and 1940’s.  By the late 1940’s she had become an alcoholic and user of drugs.  And though she was still successful as a concert performer in the 1950’s (she performed at Carnegie Hall in sold out concerts), her drug and alcohol abuse led to her downfall.

           

This play takes place in 1959 in a sordid bar in Philadelphia where Billy Holliday (Deidrie Henry) is performing one of her latest shows about four months prior to her death.  Her backup artists include Jimmy Powers (Abdul Hamid Royal at the piano) and James Leary (bass player).  It is obvious there is a problem with Billy before her performance begins.  Fortunately, Jimmy helps to soften the situation as best he can throughout her show.  She begins her performance with a song, but as she continues, she intersperses her singing with bits of her life, stopping sometimes for a smoke or a drink.  Meanwhile the audience becomes privy to what occurred throughout her life that pushed Billy Holliday towards her brink of disaster, not the least of which was her color.

           

Deidrie Henry is magnificent as Billie Holliday in every way.  Her voice is absolutely beautiful, (I have never been a fan of Holliday’s voice per se.) and her performance is very realistic.  Royal and Leary are an outstanding combo and the three musicians light up the show.

           

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill was written by Lanie Robertson and directed by Gregg T. Daniel.  It is playing Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 3 PM, through June 9, at the Garry Marshall Theatre, 4252 West Riverside Dr., Burbank.  For tickets visit www.garrymarshalltheatre.org, or call (818) 955-8101.