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.
It is often said that Holiday cannot be authentically imitated or covered. That's probably true. But as directed by Lonnie Price, McDonald undergoes a complete transformation vocally and physically, a la Meryl Streep, that is highly theatrical but believable and seemingly effortless. It's easy to forget that the play is pretty thin thanks to her transfixing performance. McDonald forsakes her rich singing abilities to capture Holiday's distinctively small and scratchy voice. But more than that, she credibly and powerfully inhabits a disoriented woman who is slurring her words and appears to be lost both emotionally and mentally.
The much-decorated McDonald - five Tonys and counting - evokes the tough steel and rough velvet of Holiday's singing with uncanny precision. But this isn't about mimicry. It's about the heart and soul, bruised and battered, that comes through. Audra McDonald channels Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill. This is McDonald at her most intimate. Director Lonny Price has Holiday roam the audience bumming cigarettes and drinks. The play is the story of a women whose gift was her voice. The final moment - in dead silence - is shattering. Ooh, ooh, ooh, indeed.
| 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 |
| 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 |
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