Garry Marshall Theatre Adds Performances of LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL

Garry Marshall Theatre has added performances of Deidrie Henry starring in the Tony Award winning Broadway play Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill by Lanie Robertson, which now must close Sunday, June 9, 2019.

The Marshall is presenting a new production of the show about one of Billie Holiday's last performances with more than a dozen of the songs associated with her including "What a Moonlight Can Do," "Crazy He Calls Me," "Easy Living," "Strange Fruit," "Taint Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do," and "God Bless the Child"

Also for one night only - on Friday, May 31, a live post-show conversation with Academy and Grammy Award-winner Paul Williams. Deidrie Henry will join Williams as they open up the room to a discussion of music, entertainment, addiction, and recovery.

For tickets and information, please visit www.garrymarshalltheatre.org or call 818-955-8101.

FOR THIS PRODUCTION there will be LIMITED ON-STAGE VIP SEATING. This immersive experience will put you right in the middle of the action! On-stage seating includes a complimentary bottle of wine or champagne, served right at your table for two! Must be 21+ to access ON STAGE seating.

The director is Gregg T. Daniel and playing Jimmy Powers is musical director Abdul Hamid Royal. Daniel most recently directed The Mountaintop for Garry Marshall Theatre.

Production credits include Tanya Orellana - Scenic Consultant; Michèle Young - Costume Designer; Thomas Ontiveros - Lighting Designer; Robert Arturo Ramirez - Sound Designer; John M. McElveney - Prop Designer; and Giselle N. Vega - Stage Manager.

The time is 1959, a seedy bar in Philadelphia. The audience is about to witness one of Billie Holiday's last performances, given four months before her death. More than a dozen musical numbers - including "What a Moonlight Can Do," "Crazy He Calls Me," "Easy Living," "Strange Fruit," "Taint Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do," and "God Bless the Child" -- are interlaced with salty, often humorous, reminiscences to project a riveting portrait of the lady and her music.

Holiday loathes Philadelphia. "Philadelphia was a very loaded place for Billie," said playwright Lanie Robertson. "It was there that she was arrested on a drug charge and was sent to prison, forced to go cold turkey. As she says in the play, 'Philly's always been the rat's ass for me. When I die, I don't care if I go to heaven or hell long's it ain't in Philly.' As a result Holiday was stripped of her New York cabaret card, limiting her ability to perform in NYC as she approached the end of her life.

During its first New York engagement, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best off-Broadway Book (1986); later Audra McDonald starred in a 2014 Broadway revival, winning her sixth, record breaking, Tony Award® for Best Actress.

Special Event: Friday, May 31 Also for one night only -- live post-show conversation with Academy and Grammy Award-winner Paul Williams. Deidrie Henry will join Williams as they open up the room to discussing music, entertainment, addiction, and recovery.

FOR THIS PRODUCTION there will be LIMITED ON-STAGE VIP SEATING. This immersive experience will put you right in the middle of the action! On-stage seating includes a complimentary bottle of wine or champagne, served right at your table for two! Must be 21+ to access ON STAGE seating.

Photo Credit: Aaron Batzdorff