LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL Announced At Peterborough Players

Artist, activist, and jazz icon comes to life on the Players' stage with Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill by Lanie Robertson, August 18-28th.

Popular company member Tracey Conyer Lee (Serving Elizabeth at the Players, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill across the country) appears as the famed Billie Holiday in this unforgettable play with music featuring 13 of Billie Holiday's songs. The show is directed by award-winner Kevin R. Free (Artistic Director of the Mile Square Theatre).

It's the evening show at Hal Emerson's Bar and Grill in Philadelphia, PA, March of 1959, and you've got a seat at the bar. You're witnessing one of the final performances of the legendary Billie Holiday, here for the night to fill the small room with jazz, memories, and perhaps just a little moonlight. As she and her faithful accompanist Jimmy weave their way through the evening of song, Lady Day can't help but reminisce about the long road that led her back to Emerson's, and the world that set her on that road. Music is her joy, and she endeavors to keep that moonlight present for as long as she possibly can.
Billie Holiday is brought to glorious, profound, humorous, and heartbreaking life before your eyes.

"Billie Holiday is an icon. The older I got, the more I started to appreciate that she is an icon and that some of what happened to her, outside of the choices that she made...happened to her because of how much was expected of her," says director Kevin R. Free. "Today, in 2022, the fact that she was here is incredibly important to me."

This is Tracey Conyer Lee's 6th time portraying the icon, having done so at theatres like Portland Stage Company, Capital City Theatre, and others. An extraordinary story of one indelible evening, "It's not a Billie Holiday concert," says Lee. "It's a Billie Holiday concert gone awry, perhaps." Lee is joined by Ronnie King Mason, Jr. (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill at Stages Repertory Theatre) in the role of Jimmy Powers. He is also the Music Director of the piece.

Bass player Don Baldini rounds out the trio. Scenic design is by Baron E. Pugh; costume design and coordination is by Chloe Ross; lighting design is by Haley Brown, sound design and engineering is by Alex Trombly; props design is by Emily Allinson. Julia Perez and Vanessa C. Hart are Equity Stage Management.

There will be a talkback with members of the cast and creative team after the show on Sunday, August 21st. Pay-What-You-Can Tickets for Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill will be available on Friday, August 19th to anyone who needs assistance accessing tickets to Players' productions. We invite patrons to attend the August 19th performance, with a guest, for whatever they feel they can pay. Pay-What-You-Can tickets must be reserved ahead of time through the box office: (603) 924-7585.

Single tickets for Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill are $47, and on sale NOW. Barn Door Flex Passes are available throughout the Summer Season. Tickets can be purchased at www.peterboroughplayers.org or by calling the box office at (603) 924-7585.

Peterborough Players is New Hampshire's premiere professional regional theater. The Players is known for an annual Summer Season, this year with 5 main stage productions and 1 children's show, and continues to offer the Arts on Screen series that includes screenings of renowned performances from the Met: Live in HD. The Players enriches the human experience by producing quality live professional theatre, developing and training theatre artists, and offering New Hampshire a wide variety of performing arts events. Peterborough Players is sponsored in part by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information please visit Peterborough Players, 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, NH 03458 or www.peterboroughplayers.org.

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