Crossroads Theatre Company Presents YESTERDAYS, 2/17-27

YESTERDAYS: An Evening with Billie Holiday, the musical drama capturing the final performance of jazz vocalist Billie Holiday comes to the Tony-Award® winning Crossroads Theatre Company's stage from February 17-27.   
 
The on-stage Billie Holiday is performed by New York based jazz vocalist Vanessa Rubin.  Rubin, who is also a composer and lyricist, says "I am amazed at the numerous teachable moments in this riveting production of the complex life and stunning music of one of our greatest jazz singers."
 
Billie Holiday, an icon during the 1930s and 1940s jazz and blues scene, was known for her unique vocal quality and emotional depth which moved audiences.  Her complicated life included musical stardom spotted with substance abuse, resulting in an early death in 1959 at age 44. 
 Set in May 1959 in a New York jazz club, YESTERDAYS: An Evening with Billie Holiday presents the on-stage Billie Holiday singing over twenty songs interspersed with stories of her life and historical moments from the 1930's and 1940's jazz scene.  Featured classics include "God Bless the Child," "Strange Fruit" and "Yesterdays."
 
Returning to Crossroads to direct YESTERDAYS: An Evening with Billie Holiday  is Woodie King, Jr., founder and Producing Director of New Federal Theatre in New York City.   King, who previously directed  AND THE WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU, ALI and MOVIN' MAN with Glynn Turman at Crossroads says, "Crossroads Theatre Company is really like a second home to me. Over the years I've watched it grow into an award winning National Treasure and a leading African American Theatre.  I can think of no better venue for YESTERDAYS: An evening with Billie Holiday."
 Crossroads Theatre Company was founded in 1978 by Ricardo Khan and L. Kenneth Richardson with the vision that African-American theater is intended for a broad based diverse audience.  As a major force in the development of new ideas and the introduction of formerly marginalized writers, Crossroads produces works that enrich and diversify the representation of African American culture on the American stage.  Crossroads has produced more than 40 world premieres and received the Tony Award® in 1999 as the "outstanding regional theatre in America."  
 

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