Audra McDonald is captivating as Billie Halliday
Audra McDonald won her sixth Tony award for her performance as Billie Halliday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. Thankfully this performance was recorded with a live audience and available to view through BroadwayHD.
Billie Halliday was a tremendous singer. She lived a hard life, her mother was thrown out of home for being unmarried and pregnant with Billie. They went to go live with family in Baltimore, before relocating to Harlem, New York. Billie’s mother went on to become a worker in places of ill repute with Billie at the age of 14 also becoming involved in the trade. Shortly thereafter they were both arrested and sent to a workhouse. Upon being released Billie began singing in nightclubs to make some extra cash and the rest is history.
Understandably Billie Halliday experienced a lot of sadness and hardship early on in her life and that carries through in her music. There is a richness and soulfulness that resonates in her songs that makes her sound quite remarkable and very distinctive. As she progressed in life she did become addicted to a number of substances that towards the end of her life affected the sound.
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill is set in the later stages of Billie Halliday’s life, while she is on tour and struggling with substance abuse. As the production progresses the more fluid Billie becomes and retells any aspects of her life and how she came to this current point in her life.
Directed by Lonny Price, Lady Day is a very sad representation of the last years of Billie Halliday’s life. The production highlights this incredible singer as she slowly unravels in front of your eyes. The show is peppered with the tremendous catalogue of Billie Halliday songs, which makes it even more tragic.
Now let’s talk Audra McDonald, she can do no wrong. She is an absolute powerhouse in this role. As a huge Billie Halliday fan, there are moments where I forget I am watching Audra McDonald and feel I am watching Billie Halliday perform in front of my eyes. The mannerisms, the distinctive voice and vocal range, Audra McDonald is perfect in this role.
As this pandemic continues to affect every day life. There are some great streaming platforms out there that have a number of recorded Broadway productions available for hire. BroadwayHD is one of those platforms that for any theater fan is a must have subscription.
Lady Day is currently available on BroadwayHD and if you are a fan of Billie Halliday or Audra McDonald this is definitely a show worth watching. You can understand why Audra won her sixth Tony award for this role and it is most deserved. Audra is tremendous as Billie Halliday and I’m so happy it is available to stream online.
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill is currently available on BroadwayHD.
