If we are to progress as a nation and grow as human beings we must learn to really hear and really see each other. Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill is an invitation to look deeply and to listen carefully. While experiencing the life of Billie Holiday in her final days, we cannot escape America’s terrible racist past and challenging present. The great gift of this play is that we get to consider who we currently are, how we got here, and who we want to be in the future. I hope you will discover that, in one way or another, you are deeply connected to Billie’s story.
Our team first created a production of Lanie Robertson’s play at Actors Theatre of Louisville last season. We were asked to imagine a production that was “in the round” — meaning Billie would be in the middle of the room, with seating on all sides. To be perfectly honest, I was initially skeptical and terrified about that. I had never imagined this play could be effectively staged in that way; even the playwright was nervous about the idea. But an amazing and unexpected thing happened when we began rehearsals: the staging forced our team and the audience to look at Billie from all sides, from every possible angle. This invitation to look and listen in a non-traditional way opened up our thinking about the play and the woman. This play demands that we look beyond Billie’s musical icon status, and beneath the sensational stories, to get to the beating heart of this incredible woman. Billie Holiday not only survived in a cruel Jim Crow world, but became one of the greatest and most enduring American musical artists of all time in spite of it.
When Chris Coleman invited our team to create this new production for The Armory we were excited, but we wanted to be sure that we held onto the Louisville discoveries as we crafted a very different physical production. Billie Holiday doesn’t let you off the hook and we wanted this production to honor that. The exciting architecture of Michael Schweikardt’s design disorients the space by breaking through the proscenium and coming right at you. The set also incorporates a back wall that will literally give you an opportunity to see yourself in this story while considering the life of Billie Holiday.
The act of looking and listening has been an important exercise for America recently. Billie Holiday reminds us that we must speak the truth, and we must work together to move forward even as we face the headwinds of great adversity. We must keep going. The life and music of Billie Holiday is an urgent reminder to recognize and value our shared humanity.
So during this performance, I hope you will not sit back and relax; but instead really look and really listen.
Bill Fennelly
Portland Center Stage at The Armory’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill ticket and schedule information here.
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