Lady Day At Emerson's Bar & Grill

One other thing I did this weekend was go to Arena Stage to see "Lady Day At Emerson's bar & Grill." Basically, a revelatory concert about Billie Holiday, this surprised me at how good it was. I don't really know too much about Billie, except for the songs she left behind and that she probably had a drug/alcohol problem (as so many tortured souls did in those days), so alot of this was interesting on a purely educational level. The whole "reveal oneself during a performance" genre- to me- is exceptionally tired. "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" was stellar and even "Altar Boyz" used it to good effect. I'm sure that "Lady Day" isn't as recent as those two, but that was the only thing about it that bored me.
Lynn Sterling played Billie as a fragile, strong-voiced, delusional woman in decline and she played it magnificently. Her renditions of Ms. Holiday's songs sounded great and she was accompanied by an able 3-piece band led by William Foster McDaniel as "Jimmy Powers". Mr. McDaniel doesn't fare as well. He's an able piano-man/band leader but not a very convincing actor. We had the luck to be seated at one of the cabaret tables right up front, making me a little self-conscious in my hawaiin shirt and very thankfull that this period piece didn't have any audience interaction.

The intermissionless show was enlightening if a little bland but well-performed. I would recommend it. Grade: B