Review: LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL at Mosaic Theater Company

The celebrated and now-iconic jazz vocalist and legend Billie Holiday is portrayed as a tormented “just holding on” survivor in playwright ’s play Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. The audience is transported back to the feel of this classic bar and grill to the year 1959 where a tired-out “Lady Day” (Billie Holiday) looks back at her life and sings fifteen of her classic songs with three superb jazz accompanists backing her up. The nightclub ambience of Emerson’s Bar and Grill envelops the theater’s patrons as soon as they enter Mosaic Theater Company’s top-notch cabaret setting (scenic designer Nadir Bey’s atmospheric work includes a neon-lit sign, and a stage filled with warmth).

Billie Holiday is portrayed with nuance and texture by Roz White ----as we see her looking back at her life’s painful and interactive moments with a bantering wall of defense, undercurrents of rage, and a bruised and battered ego. Ms. White totally inhabits the essence of Billie Holiday. Attired in an elegant white gown with green floral accents and white gloves, Ms. White beautifully delineates the painful trajectory of Holiday’s life (with some earthy banter) through fifteen classic songs and lively patter.

Ms. White’s vocal style stresses the emotive, expressive, and “down to earth” quality that embodied Ms. Holiday’ vocal qualities perfectly. Ms. White also has acting chops to tempt the Gods—Ms. White was adept at successively showing the transitions  of her psychological state as she successively took another sip of a drink to loosen her inhibitions and took a prolonged break (as her character would do) only to perform in a narcotic haze that actually gave an edge of masochism and utter anguish to her renditions of “Strange Fruit” and “Don’t Explain.”  (My only caveat is that I did not detect the touch of vulnerability in Ms. White’s portrayal of Ms. Holiday –to the degree that I saw injured pride and resentment). However, the unique phrasing, inflection and jazz styling of the vocals are all there and this is a performance of the utmost professionalism that must be seen.

Music Director William Knowles excels in his musical duties as the arrangements for Ms. White are enticing and full of verve and his skills at the piano are remarkable ----clarity of tone and a light touch abound. Mr. Knowles’ acting portrayal as Jimmy Powers is a standout.

Greg Holloway on drums/percussion adds snap to the musical accompaniment and Mark Saltman on bass is simply amazing especially in his accompaniment in “God Bless the Child.” The audience was treated to an opening jam session that produced sustained applause as well as a couple other purely instrumental interludes that were equally compelling.

Director Reginald L. Douglas fleshes out all the layers of this production with psychological nuance as well as expert logistical pacing and obvious forethought. Mr. Douglas succeeds in dropping the fourth wall so subtly that I was caught up in the moment as if I were carried back in a time capsule to 1959.

The ninety minutes of this play flew by as the many songs were integrated so well with the spoken book passages. Holiday’s musical influences---Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith, racism, family/upbringing, lovers, and bouts with authority figures were all in the mix. Playwright ’s book certainly alludes to the many events in the life of Billie Holiday, but this is a show that will, most likely, attract Holiday devotees and not a general audience as the appeal of the show is quite specialized and the spoken passages seemingly assume that the audience has done the background research on Ms. Holiday. (The program that was distributed does not contain any dramaturgy or even a brief synopsis on elements of Holiday’s background or her influence on the many singers and musicians working in the past decades and the present). At least those who attend without immediate knowledge of Ms. Holiday can rejoice in the musical immediacy of each song and the superb trio of musicians.

“What a Little Moonlight Can Do” was delivered with an upbeat and sassy and swinging style.

“Crazy He Calls Me” was a knockout of a song filled with irony and romance.

“Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)” was very earthy and performed with pleasing broad humor by Ms. White. An extremely exciting interactive approach ensued as Ms. White stepped off the theatrical nightclub stage and sang to people at the cabaret tables (the audience). A very engaging number!

The classic “God Bless the Child” (with music by Bille Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. and lyrics by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr.) was incredibly sung and arranged. The bass of Mark Saltman subtly accompanied Ms. White’s stirring vocals for about two-thirds of the song and then, the piano of William Knowles and the percussion/drums of Greg Holloway joined in to add unified texture and tone to this classic song.

With the jolting poetic and tragic truth of “Strange Fruit”—lynching in the South is brought to harrowing light. The expressive vocals of Ms. White cut straight to the horrible sadness of this song.

“T’ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do” was performed by Ms. White with an alternating iconoclastic defiance as well as sly humor.

“Don’t Explain” (with music by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. and lyrics by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr.)  deftly underscored the fact that harsh reality will always exist-- but real love is grateful for the moments of happiness that can be found.

Lighting design by Jesse Belsky was haunting and probing when needed for dramatic enhancement-- and was utilized more broadly for more of an interactive effect with the audience.

In conclusion, my takeaway from this unique play is: Did Billie Holiday pay too high a price for the legacy of her unique vocal genius? Certainly, she did ----but the legacy that the musical world inherited from her tragic personal life was a new, raw honesty and an emotional, expressive leap into a vibrant new vocal paradigm that influenced artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, Etta James, and Janis Joplin among many others.

Do not miss the Mosaic Theater Company’s production of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. This highly original and specialized play will appeal to those who appreciate the genius that is Billie Holiday.

Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission.

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill runs though October 6, 2024 at the Mosaic Theater Company located at the Atlas Performing Arts Center located at 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC, 20002.

Photo credit: L-R William Knowles (pianist), Roz White  as Billie Holiday, Mark Saltman (bassist), and Greg Holloway (drummer/percussionist) in Mosaic Theater Company's production of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. Photo by Chris Banks.

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