Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill – at Stageworks Theatre Tampa
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill is a play that features live music, depicting the very end of Billie Holiday’s career in 1959 before her death in July. Written by Lanie Robinson, it debuted in 1986 and has since played across the country, on Broadway, and on London’s West End. The setting is a small cabaret in Philadelphia with Holiday backed by a trio.
Stageworks Theatre in Tampa is currently presenting Lady Day… June 6–29, and we cannot recommend this performance highly enough. Desiree Montes is featured as Lady Day, and William Coleman portrays Jimmy Powers, her featured accompanist and music director. Two renowned and revered Tampa area musicians completed the trio: Kenny Walker, upright bass; and Alvon Griffin, drums.
Lady Day… is part musical performance, part soliloquy. So many emotions pour out of this show, balancing the magnificence of Holiday’s singing with the appalling ugliness that permeated her life. It was a gut-wrenching performance, and Montes milked every bit of emotion from everyone in attendance; we could feel her tears near the end of the show. Her ability to portray the alcoholic Holiday in her last days was remarkable, as was her her ability to deliver amazing vocal performances — both powerful and subdued. Montes is a stunning talent and gorgeous as well.
You feel like you are front and center in Emerson’s Bar & Grill in Philadelphia. Coleman is a master player and did well in his banter with Montes, and the gentleman manning the (real) bar played Emerson, always agreeing that he and Holiday were indeed drinking buddies. Walker and Griffin were rock solid in support.
Kudos to everyone involved in this amazing production: Fani Green, Director; Karla Hartley, Producing Artistic Director; Deborah Lasting, Costume Designer; Danny Eggers, Lighting Director; Taylor Walters-Riggsbee, Scenic Designer; Skylar Jay, Scenic Artist; James Putnam, Scenic Carpenter; Heather Krueger, Production Stage Manager; and Alli Bica, Sound Engineer.
If you go – and you should – be sure to take your playbill home. It contains a superb, 12-part synopsis of “The Life and Times of Billie Holiday.”
Not in Tampa? Watch for this show to appear in your area. You will be amply rewarded.