By J.E. Ballantyne Jr.
Billie Holiday was a jazz singer from around the 1930s to the late 1950s. Anyone from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s would be familiar with her, as well as the baby boomer generation (through stories only). Anyone much later than that probably has little idea of the influence her short career had on the music industry.
To shed light on Holiday’s career and life, the Hopewell Theatre opened a two-weekend run of “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” on Friday night. Written by Lanie Robertson, the show is a club act at the legendary Emerson’s Bar and Grill in Philadelphia. The production is based on one of Holiday’s final performances at the club before she passed away about four months later.
Holiday rose to fame as a jazz artist and a swing music singer. A close friend of hers and music partner, Lester Young, gave her the nickname “Lady Day.” She employed a very unique vocal style and made many contributions to the jazz world, as well as to pop music. She remains an iconic figure to this day in the jazz world.
Carla D. Gipson takes on the role of Holiday in this production and serves as the director of the show. One of the most important things about her performance is that Gipson does not try to impersonate Holiday. Trying to impersonate such an idolized figure can get you into some deep water, unless you are very adept at such things. Rather, Gipson approaches the role from a style standpoint.
This approach is what wins the audience over. Gipson is quite at home in this role and punches all the right buttons as she displays Holiday musically and during various points in her short life. As you watch her, you really get the feeling that you are in a club. And as she gets further into the show, you buy her as Billie Holiday.
Helping this transformation is an excellent set design by Martin Charles Moore. The audience is enveloped in the club atmosphere upon entering the theater with the club sign on the back wall, a fully set bar stage right, a period stand microphone at down center, an upright piano at left center and even ringside tables on the house floor against the stage. This is augmented by soft, warm lighting by Canacci Consulting Ltd.
All of this helps Gipson create the illusion of watching a Billie Holiday club act. She starts the night off fast with a rendition of “When a Woman Loves a Man,” followed by “Crazy He Calls Me,” one of Holiday’s better-known hits. But she really makes that audience connection when she leaves the stage and joins the audience to do “Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer).”
Light, upbeat songs comprise much of the beginning of the show before she hits on one of her most famous songs, “God Bless the Child,” which she wrote for her mother. It is around this point in the show where Gipson begins to tell the back stories of her life. Sprinkled with reminiscence, humor and pathos, Gipson roams the stage as Holiday with a drink in her hand. The more drinks she has, the darker the stories become.
Holiday did not have an easy life, and as the show plays on, Gipson flows in and out of the turmoil caused by drugs and alcohol. Gipson’s flow with the character is very well done right from the beginning as she easily transitions from song to song. But it is later in the show that her flow reaches its high point. As she recounts bad times, her emotional trail leads to memorable moments as Holiday begins to come apart during the course of her act.
It is her command of the character that really shows up at these breaking points. You actually feel that she has lived those moments. The only unfortunate part of that intensity is that in numerous instances, her emotion overrode her articulation of lines and things were difficult to understand.
There are two scenes that are particularly memorable. During one of her club appearances, she is relegated to waiting in the kitchen before going on stage since “coloreds” are not permitted anywhere else. She needs to find a bathroom quickly and has an amusing run-in with a bigoted club maître d. Gipson milks everything she can out of a great story.
The other scene actually covered numerous moments. Her descriptions of former husband Sonny Monroe, who got her hooked on drugs, and difficult times of her past show Gipson’s acting range and how she easily floats through the many emotional times, both happy and sad, of Holiday’s life.
Gipson commands the stage in this production and doubles as director. The show is fast-paced, only 90 minutes, and with no intermission. It runs the gamut from humor and lightness to a life that is decaying and falling apart right in front of her audience.
Also on stage with Gipson is Ellis Anthony as her manager/accompanist, Jimmy Powers, and Martin Moore as Hal Emerson, as well as a cameo appearance by Maci Grace McD as Pepe.
“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” will continue at 2 p.m. Sunday and Sept. 20 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18 and 19.
Pictured at top: Carla D. Gipson, right, and Ellis Anthony star in Hopewell Theatre’s production of “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.”