For a successful staging of the play with music, Lady Day in Emerson’s Bar & Grill, the show needs an actress who can not only sing with emotion and depth, but also be able to act. Fortunately, the Ivoryton Playhouse’s production of Lady Day has the superb talents of Christina Acosta Robinson as the legendary singer Billie Holiday.
Christina Acosta Robinson and the cast of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill.
Ms. Robinson possesses a marvelous singing voice that conveys Ms. Holiday’s sheer joy for singing as well as the pain she experienced throughout her short life. The actress’s mannerisms and body language add detail and nuance to the role.
The setting for the drama is supposed to be a rundown bar in Philadelphia, a city we learn she has a love/hate relationship with. Scenic and Lighting Design Marcus Abbott has transformed the Ivoryton stage to a low-wattage venue, but the set could have, in effect, emphasized a less spiffed-up establishment, creating a plainer and shabbier bar.
Christina Acosta Robinson in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill.
In the show, which features the character of Billie Holiday center stage for all but a few minutes, we find the once-in-demand singer at the tail end of her storied career. This is one of her last performances before her death at 44. Throughout the 90-minute, intermission-less performance, she sings over a dozen songs accompanied by piano player/companion Jimmy Powers (Manny Houston), a bass player (Eneji Alungbe), and drummer (Jocelyn Pleasant). Mr. Houston also serves as Holiday’s not-always-accommodating foil. Their bantering shows his love and respect for the performer, but also the caretaking approach he needs to keep the jazz singer on track.
In between the musical selections, there is a continuous stream of off-color, funny, but also sad ramblings centering on her relationships with a number of individuals from her past, including her husbands and mother. Ms. Holiday smokes and consumes glass after glass of alcohol. They poignantly provide a window into the troubled personal life of the legendary singer. By the end of the show, she can barely stand, an intoxicated shell of a once proud and influential jazz singer.
Manny Houston Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill.
Playwright Lanie Robertson smartly centers his work around the songs associated with and beloved by Billie Holiday. Most of the dialogue before and after the songs is mere snippets of her pioneering career and rollercoaster life. The show would have benefitted from more of the lively tales, raucously and entertainingly recounted by the performer, such as her story of searching for a women’s bathroom at an all-white, posh restaurant the Artie Shaw band ate at.
Director Todd Underwood has successfully crafted an intimate nightspot, continuously positioning Ms. Robinson around the small staging area, giving the production an openness to what could have been a very static show. The Director also skillfully injects a balance between the playfulness of the character and her slow disintegration.
Lady Day in Emerson’s Bar & Grill, playing at the Ivoryton Playhouse through May 31. Click here for dates and times of performances.
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