Show Finder
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Opening Date: Mar 25, 2014
Closing Date: Oct 5, 2014
Running Time: 01:30
Playing @
Circle in the Square
235 West 50th Street , New York, NY 10019
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill recounts Billie Holiday's life story through the songs that made her famous.
1959, in a small, intimate bar in Philadelphia, Holiday puts on a show that unbeknownst to the audience, will leave them witnesses to one of the last performances of her lifetime. Through her poignant voice and moving songs, one of the greatest jazz singers of all-time shares her loves and her losses.
Among the songs that will be performed: "God Bless the Child," "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," "Strange Fruit" and "Taint Nobody's Biz-ness."
Frequent collaborators Lonny Price and Audra McDonald have been developing and working on Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill for more than two years. The intimate setting of the Circle in the Square provides a unique theatrical experience, drawing audiences – especially those seated at the tables onstage – into the performance.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
TUES 8 PM
WED 2 PM
THURS 8 PM
FRI 8 PM
SAT 2 & 8 PM
SUN 3 PM
1959, in a small, intimate bar in Philadelphia, Holiday puts on a show that unbeknownst to the audience, will leave them witnesses to one of the last performances of her lifetime. Through her poignant voice and moving songs, one of the greatest jazz singers of all-time shares her loves and her losses.
Among the songs that will be performed: "God Bless the Child," "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," "Strange Fruit" and "Taint Nobody's Biz-ness."
Frequent collaborators Lonny Price and Audra McDonald have been developing and working on Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill for more than two years. The intimate setting of the Circle in the Square provides a unique theatrical experience, drawing audiences – especially those seated at the tables onstage – into the performance.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
TUES 8 PM
WED 2 PM
THURS 8 PM
FRI 8 PM
SAT 2 & 8 PM
SUN 3 PM
Show Notes: No Intermission. McDonald and the musical drama will take a brief hiatus from September 1-7 before beginning the final 16 performances on September 9.
Age Guidance: 16
Performance Schedule
TDF Tickets Offers:
TDF Member tickets:
Not currently available for this show
Listed at 
Never
Full-price tickets:
$97.00 - $250.00
Video
Reviews
-
It’s Audra McDonald’s world—we’re all still just living in it… most of us would pay just to hear McDonald recite availability on the TKTS board, and her recreation of Holiday’s voice was just swell to my ear… the real pleasure in “Lady Day” is the patter…
-----NBC New York -
Let’s just say you could hear a pin drop in this rapt house. It’s a known fact that McDonald is a majestic singer... But it’s her extraordinary sensitivity as an actor that makes McDonald’s interpretation memorable
-----Variety -
If you close your eyes, you'll swear that the ghost of Billie Holiday is haunting the Circle in the Square Theatre… While both of this season's Billie Holiday-centered shows focus on the legendary singer near the end of her life, this one is a bit surer about its format and is consequently more focused… The thunderous applause McDonald (and, by extension, Holiday) receives at the end of this bravura performance is enough to exorcize any specter. When she's finally gone, however, we're left wanting much more
----TheaterMania -
It’s Audra McDonald’s world—we’re all still just living in it… most of us would pay just to hear McDonald recite availability on the TKTS board, and her recreation of Holiday’s voice was just swell to my ear… the real pleasure in “Lady Day” is the patter…
-----NBC New York
Accessibility
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Box Office
50th St. Ground floor. Counter 43". -
Parking
SVI Permit. Lot: 50th St. between Broadway & 8th Ave. Valet parking garage: Arcade next to theater. -
Restroom
Womens: 1st lower level (theater level). Through double doors (on level ground near elevators) into hallway through door (33") to restrooms. Door 28.5". Stall door 22".Mens: 1st lower level. Door 25.5". Stall door 22.5". -
Telephone
A telephone is located outside the washrooms. -
Entrance
Double doors (each 35") at street level to box office.Escalator or thirty steps down to lower levels. Alternate entrance: Doors (each 34") through 1633 Broadway office building to elevators. Theater staff must be alerted to allow person using elevator into lower levels of theater. Tickets must be purchased before entry to lower levels of theater. -
Water Fountain
Theater lobby (1st lower level), next to bar. Spout 42" No clear space -
Wheelchair Info
Four sections of wheelchair seats in the last row, no stairs required. -
Elevator/Escalator
There is an escalator down to the theatre level from the box office. An elevator is available that is accessible through the adjoining building, and an usher is available to escort patrons from the box office to the elevator. -
Folding Armrests
No seats with folding armrests are available. There are four sections of wheelchair seats instead. -
Seating
Theatre is 10 rows deep, with entrance at the level of the last row with no stairs. All rows in front of that require small stairs









