Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill - 2014 Broadway History , Info & More
Circle in the Square (Broadway)
1633 Broadway at 50th St. New York, NY
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill recounts Billie Holiday's life story through the songs that made her famous. 1959, in a small, intimate bar in Philadelphia, Holiday puts on a show that unbeknownst to the audience, will leave them witnesses to one of the last performances of her lifetime. Through her poignant voice and moving songs, one of the greatest jazz singers of all-time shares her loves and her losses.
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill - 2014 - Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
Theater Review: How Much Can Audra McDonald Sound Like Billie Holiday?
8 / 10
You will undoubtedly hear that what Audra McDonald is doing as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill is not an impersonation. It is, though. However much more it eventually becomes, it starts with capturing that eccentric, heartbreaking voice - and the capture is uncanny. Right from the first syllables of 'I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone,' which opens the show, McDonald nails the pinched tone, side-mouth delivery, and precipitous register leaps of Holiday in her heyday. Consonants are negotiable: 'love' is more like 'luhw.' Final vowels become dramatic opportunities: 'Hear my plea-uh and hurry home to me-uh!' Pitch is obscure or even absent; some notes sound fried in place yet remain part of the melody. McDonald's Holiday doesn't so much sing as play her voice, like a saxophone, with perfect confidence in (or indifference to) its expressive powers.
Theater review: 'Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill'
7 / 10
Under the direction of Lonny Price, the evening is a stinging portrait of a great artist's failed life. But even with deep admiration for McDonald's potent acting, the evening feels out of balance. The details of Holiday's story are already well-known, so it doesn't have the allure of revelation. (The same material was covered last year in the off-Broadway bio-musical 'Lady Day.') What the production does offer that's fresh, exciting and irresistibly entertaining is McDonald singing Holiday. Too bad the vivid evening wasn't more strongly tilted in that direction.
Category
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill History
Other Productions of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
| 1986 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
| 1986 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2014 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| 2017 | West End |
West End Production West End |
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill - 2014 Broadway Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Play | Audra McDonald |
| 2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Audra McDonald |
| 2014 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill |
| 2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Audra McDonald |
| 2014 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill |
| 2014 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Audra McDonald |
| 2014 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Steve Canyon Kennedy |
Videos
