Woodie King Black History Month Play Fest to Feature 'BILLIE HOLIDAY' & 'CLARENDON COUNTY,' Begin. Tonight

Woodie King Jr's National Black Touring Circuit's 2014 Black History Month Play Festival will present "Yesterdays: An Evening with Billie Holiday" from February 28 - March 2 at National Black Theater, 2031 Fifth Avenue." Performances are Friday, February 28 at 7:30pm; Saturday, March 1 at 7:30pm and Sunday, March 2 at 4:00pm.

"Yesterdays: An Evening with Billie Holiday" starring Vanessa Rubin, written by Reenie Upchurch and directed by Woodie King Jr. is a fictional portrayal of Billie Holiday's last show in New York, where she died in 1959. Against the backdrop of a small nightclub, Rubin as Holiday poignantly shares personal and professional memories from childhood to racism to stardom to drugs. Intertwined is the stylistic singing of classics "God Bless the Child," "Don't Explain" and "Fine and Mellow."

On Friday, February 28 at 7:30pm, there will be a celebrity reading of Ossie Davis' classic drama "The People of Clarendon County." Douglas Turner Ward, the acclaimed director of Pulitzer Prize winning "A Soldier's Play," Obie and Drama Desk award-winning actor and the co-founder of the Negro Ensemble Company, directs the celebrity reading of "The People of Clarendon County." Clarendon County, a rural community in South Carolina, was the battleground of black sharecroppers, domestic workers, laborers and clergymen who joined with the NAACP to fight for better schools for Black children. It stars Kene Holiday ("Matlock," "Great World of Sound"), Elain Graham ("666 Park Avenue," "Smash") and Kim Sullivan ("In the Wine Time"). The Black History Month Play Festival performance tickets are $25. Group rates for 10 or more are $20 each. TDF is accepted.

For tickets call (212) 279-4200. For group rates call 917-723-3769.