Actress Audra McDonald to Play Billie Holiday in Broadway Musical

Audra McDonald of "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess," winner of "Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical," poses for photographer during the 66th Annual Tony Awards held at the Beacon Theatre on June 10, 2012 in New York City.
Audra McDonald of "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess," winner of "Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical," poses for photographer during the 66th Annual Tony Awards held at the Beacon Theatre on June 10, 2012 in New York City.

Five-time, Tony award-winner, Audra McDonald, known for her roles in both television dramas such as Private Practice and Broadway musicals “Ragtime,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” and “Porgy and Bess,” returns to Broadway to play legendary jazz singer, Billie Holiday in the Broadway premiere of Lanie Robertson's "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill."

"'Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill' recounts Holiday's life story through songs that made her famous,"

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Billie Holiday

Born Eleanora Fagan, Holiday grew up in Baltimore in the 1920s and as a young teenager, started out singing along with records by Bessie Smith or Louis Armstrong in after-hours jazz clubs. When Holiday’s mother, Sadie Fagan, moved to New York in search of a better job, Holiday eventually went with her and made her true singing debut in obscure Harlem nightclubs. She’s said to have borrowed her professional now famous name – Billie Holiday – from screen star Billie Dove.

Although she never had any technical training and never even so much as learned how to read music, Holiday quickly became an active participant in what was then one of the most vibrant jazz scenes in the country, moving from one club to another, working for tips--sometimes singing with the accompaniment of a house piano player--while other times, working as part of a group of performers, eventually rising to prominence in the 1950s

Holiday’s soulful, unique singing voice and her ability to turn any material into her own music made her a superstar of her time, remembered for her masterpieces, creativity and vivacity. Many of Holiday’s songs are as well-known today as they were decades ago. Holiday’s poignant voice is still considered one of the greatest jazz voices of all time.

“Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill,” a production, by Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel, will feature Holiday’s songs titled, "God Bless the Child," "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," "Strange Fruit" and "Taint Nobody's Biz-ness."

Previews of "'Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill' are scheduled to start March 25 at Circle in the Square Theatre in Manhattan for a limited 10-week engagement of only 70 performances. Opening night is set for April 13.

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