LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL
2018/2019 SEASON
The Nightclub.
Extraordinary things happen in a rundown bar in Philadelphia.
DIRECTED BY GREGG T DANIEL
MUSIC DIRECTED BY ABDUL HAMID ROYAL
Extended due to popular demand - Must close June 9!
Garry Marshall Theatre presents the Tony Award-winning Broadway play Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill by Lanie Robertson, starring Deidrie Henry as Billie Holiday.
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.
“In my imagination,” says playwright Lanie Robertson, “(Billie Holiday) enters, doesn’t know where she is, sees the microphone, and knows she’s supposed to sing. Once she starts singing, the music is like an injection of heroin. By the time she finishes, she knows where she is and what she has to do.” Late in life, Holiday could still bring the house to silence. The New York Times said, “The quiet usually held, as one of the great singers of the last century turned jazz songs and standards into searching, and searing, portraits of life and love gone wrong that cast a shimmering spell.”
FOR THIS PRODUCTION there will be LIMITED ON-STAGE SEATING. Be the first to be part of the action in a new and exciting way! Experience the show — live ON STAGE! This VIP experience will include a complimentary bottle of wine or champagne, served right at your table for two! Reserve your seats NOW. Must be 21+ to access ON STAGE seating.
May 15 to June 9, 2019
PLEASE BE ADVISED: there will be adult language, the smoking of non-nicotine herbal cigarettes, and the drinking of alcohol during this production.
