It's a jazz club all right, with dim lighting and a couple of tiny tables intimately placed in front of the stage. A man hits a few keys on the piano, and then there's the calming sound of Woodrow Johnson's song "I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone" — sung Billie Holiday−style. In the Lyric Stage Company of Boston's production of "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill" by Lanie Robertson, there's nothing else left to do but lean back, absorb the music and enjoy the ride.
The production is a tribute to the life and music of the unforgettable Holiday (played by Jacqui Parker). Directed by Spiro Veloudos, the show brings to life one of Holiday's last performances in a dramatic and captivating fictional reenactment.
Holiday's songs are the focus of the show, and they are broken up with dialogue and monologues providing context on her past. The real success of the show is its ability to capture the ambiance of a jazz club, and for an hour and a half, the audience members forget that they are in a theater venue in Boston and not a basement down an alleyway in Philadelphia.
Parker portrays a tired and worn−out Holiday struggling with a past ravaged by heroin addiction, alcoholism, prostitution and rape. While Parker's voice is beautiful, deep and powerful, it is difficult to sing a tribute to Holiday. Where Parker really shines is between the music numbers. While revealing past horrors, Parker's Holiday can laugh some of them off, with jibes at parole officers and disappointing husbands. However, the jokes only make the stories and conversation more poignant, as they also expose a forced attempt to dismiss a hard past as bearable.
At the beginning of the performance, Parker plays a seemingly relaxed Holiday happy to be back on stage with a smile for her audience. She is funny and charming, living up to the elegance of Holiday and telling tales of the heartbreaking experiences that made her that way.
But as the production progresses, so does Holiday's downward spiral. As her character's alcoholism worsens and her confessions become darker and more painfully tragic, Parker's gestures and mannerisms become those of a woman who is trying to resist a breakdown. With the stories and added context, the music becomes more personal, holding together the show as if it strung together and guided Holiday's life.
A highlight of the musical numbers was "God Bless the Child." One of Holiday's biggest hits, the song already had pressure to live up to its reputation, and the anecdote Parker brilliantly performs before singing only adds to the audience's anticipation and expectations. The story adds perspective to Holiday's relationship with her mother, Sadie Harris, also known as Duchess. Holiday supposedly wrote the song for her mother, and that revelation gives the song a complex content of love and forgiveness that otherwise would have been lost. The song is also one of Parker's strongest vocal performances in the show.
"Easy Livin'," another successful moment in the show, sadly recalls the good times in Holiday's life. The song is at the very heart of production, which also tries to bring to life the best of Holiday in the aftermath and context of the worst.
The only other character in the performance is Holiday's accompanist, Jimmy Powers (Chauncey Moore). Musically, Moore actually accompanies Parker on the piano throughout the show. Most of the time he is just there to nod in agreement or sympathy, but he is also a support for Parker's performance and character. As Holiday falls apart, Powers continuously brings her back to the music, giving her something to hang on to.
The small cast is one element that makes the show so personal for the audience. There is no fake audience — only two performers, playing and singing jazz and telling stories. While the stories are engrossing, the play's loose plot and heavy dependence on music can make the performance a little slow for audiences not dedicated to Holiday's songs.
"Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill" is playing on the Lyric Stage Company of Boston's main stage until April 24.
