In March 1959, four months before her passing, Billie Holiday gives an unforgettable performance at Emerson’s Bar & Grill in South Philadelphia. However, her songs are just one part of the show. In between renditions of some of her greatest hits, like “Strange Fruit” and “God Bless the Child,” Billie shares the triumphs and heartbreaks of a life and career like no other in this immersive cabaret experience that marks the directorial debut of Pulitzer nominated artist, Nikkole Salter.

Content Transparency: This production contains depictions of drug and alcohol use, and references to sexual violence, racism, and racial violence including the use of racial slurs.

This show runs approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes without intermission.

DOWNLOAD PROGRAM

What is a Preview?

Previews are an essential part of the theater-making process that allow directors and playwrights to see their plays with audiences for the first time and identify areas for adjustment. These special performances allow you to get a first look at the play and be a part of each shows’ creative journey before it opens officially. 

Cabaret VIP EXPERIENCE

Immerse yourself in Billie Holiday’s performance at Emerson’s Bar & Grill with our VIP Experience!

Enjoy an exclusive look at Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, which includes a cabaret seat with an intimate view of the play, a free drink, and an autographed show poster featuring outstanding artwork by our 2023/24 season artist Brandon Wallace.

Tickets for our VIP Experience are just $100 for weekday performances and $125 for weekend shows.

There are only 20 VIP seats per show, so secure your seat for this one-of-a-kind viewing experience today!

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! 

NOTE: The theater seat map displayed is for informational purposes only. It is not to be considered as a definitive representation of the actual seating arrangement within the theater. The availability of seats, their location, and configuration may be subject to adjustments due to various factors. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

Special Events

September 17 – Community Conversation with Ti Malik (Post-Show in the Chapel) 

September 20 – Artists & Makers Community Night (Pre-Show starting at 6:30pm) 

September 21 – 1950’s Night with April Watts

September 24 – Community Conversation with Ti Malik (Post-Show in the Chapel) 

September 24 – Audio Description/Touch Tour

September 27 – Small Business Community Night (Pre-Show starting at 6:30pm) 

October 1 – HBCU Community Night (Pre-Show starting at 2:00pm) 

October 6 – ASL Interpreted 

Lanie Robertson – Playwright

His first plays THE INSANITY OF MARY GIRARD and BACK COUNTY CRIMES are frequently performed by schools and community theatres. His play about Billie Holiday LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL was produced on Broadway and in London’s West End with Audra McDonald.

Many of his works are about iconic artists and the societal issues they faced: NASTY LITTLE SECRETS (Joe Orton); WOMAN BEFORE A GLASS (Peggy Guggenheim); ALFRED STIEGLITZ LOVES O’KEEFFE (Georgia O’Keeffe); NOBODY LONESOME FOR ME (Hank Williams) THE GARDENER (Claude Monet); and BLYTHE COWARD (Noel Coward).

His works have been produced at the Alley Theatre, the Alliance Theatre; Annenberg Center. Arena Stage, Barrington Stage, the Edinburgh Festival, Festival d’Avignon, George St. Playhouse, Kennedy Center, Old Globe, Primary Stages, Playwrights Horizons, Theatre de la Huchette, Theatre Petit Montparnasse, Theatre Silvia Montfort, Westside Arts Theatre, Vineyard Theatre, Virginia Stage, the Walnut Street Theatre, West Side Arts Theater, and Williamstown Theatre Festival.

His first novel is to be published in 2024. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild, the Society des Auteur et Compositeurs Dramatiques, and the Writers Guild, East.

Nikkole Salter – Director 

Hailed by Variety as “thoroughly convincing”, Los Angeles-born, OBIE Award-winning actress and writer Nikkole Salter arrived onto the professional scene with her co-authorship and co-performance (with Danai Gurira) of the Pulitzer Prize nominated play, IN THE CONTINUUM (ITC). For its Off-Broadway run at Primary Stages and the Perry Street Theatre and for its US State Department and Bloomberg sponsored inter-national tour, Ms. Salter received an OBIE Award, and the NY Outer Critics Circle’s John Gassner Award for Best New American Play, the Seldes-Kanin fellowship from the Theatre Hall of Fame, and the Global Tolerance Award from the Friends of the United Nations to name a few. Ms. Salter also received Helen Hayes and Black Theatre Alliance nominations for Best Actress for her performance. ITC, published by Samuel French, was pronounced – by New York Times, Newsday and New York Magazine – as one of the best plays of 2005 and was featured in numerous esteemed media outlets including Essence Magazine, American Theatre Magazine, the Los Angeles Times and NPR’s Leonard Lopate Show. ITC has received over 20 productions across the world to date.

As an actress, Ms. Salter can be seen in Gavin O’Connors feature film “Pride & Glory” starring Ed Norton, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight, and heard as the voice of ‘LATICIA’ in Rockstar Games’ video game release, Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Ms. Salter has received an Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) award nomination for Best Actress for her performance in TONY winner Kenny Leon’s production of STICK FLY co-produced by Arena Stage (Washington, DC) and the Huntington Theatre (Boston), starred in the role of ‘Cookie’ in the West Coast Premiere of OSCAR winner Tarell McCraney’s play HEAD OF PASSES at Berkeley Repertory Theatre (dir. Tina Landau), was featured in Harold Jackson, III’s independent film “Last Night,” (winner of the Audience Award for Best Film and the Grand Jury Prize for best Screenplay in the 2015 American Black Film Festival), starred as Lady Macbeth in TONY-nominated Liesl Tommy’s controversial production of MACBETH at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC, and in a recurring role in Forest Whitaker’s new series, Godfather of Harlem. Ms. Salter was most recently seen originating a starring role in McArthur Genius Award, TONY nominated playwright Dominique Morisseau’s new play MUD ROW, as ‘Sally Childress’ (a fictional character based on the real Geraldine Whittington) and Coretta Scott King in the Broadway production of Robert Schenkkan’s play THE GREAT SOCIETY, and starred in the 3rd season of ‘New Amsterdam’ as ISABEL SARASA, The hospital’s Chief Equity Officer. Once COVID is contained, she will return to the Huntington Theatre to originate the role of ‘LaVinia Shaw Williams’ in the world premiere production of Kirsten Greenidge’s OUR DAUGHTERS, LIKE PILLARS.

As a dramatist, Ms. Salter has written 8 full-length plays, been commissioned for full-length work by 6 institutions, been produced on 3 continents in 5 countries, and been published in 12 international publications. Her work has appeared in over 20 Off-Broadway, regional and international theatres, and the Crossroads Theatre production of her play REPAIRING A NATION (directed by Marshall Jones, III) was regionally aired during the second season of the WNET program “Theatre Close-Up”on NYC’s channel THIRTEEN, WLIC, NJTV. The National Black Theatre production of her play CARNAVAL was nominated for 7 AUDELCO awards including Best Playwright and Best Production and won for Best Ensemble Performance. Ms. Salter is a 2014 MAP Fund Grant recipient, a Eugene O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist, USA Fellowship nominee, a two time Playwright’s of New York (PoNY) Fellowship nominee, is currently working on a commission from Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

Amid an emerging acting/writing career, Ms. Salter’s deep sense of social responsibility led her to co-found (with NSangou Njikam) and serve as Executive Artistic Director of THE CONTINUUM PROJECT, INC., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that creates innovative artistic programming for community empowerment and enrichment. Their first bi-annual endeavor, The Legacy Program: Residency – an arts education, youth development initiative – launched in 2009 at the William Alexander Middle School in Brooklyn, NY. The Continuum Project, Inc. received the 2010 and 2011 Brooklyn Arts Council Regrant Award (Local Arts), a grant funded by the New York Council on the Arts’ Decentralization Program, in support of the LP: Residency. Ms. Salter as the Exec. Art. Dir. of the CP and conceiver of the Legacy Program was featured on WBAI 99.5 FM’s “Talkback with Hugh Hamilton” in NYC and was featured on the nationally broadcast PBS series, “Finding Your Roots,” hosted by Harvard Professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The Legacy Program was most recently in residence at the Harlem School for the Arts and continues at its flagship site in Brooklyn.

Ms. Salter is an active member of the Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Actors Center; and sits on the Council of the Dramatists Guild and serves as Chair of the Board of the Theatre Communications Group. She received her BFA in theatre from Howard University under the instruction of Al Freeman, Jr. and Sybil Roberts; and her MFA from New York University’s Graduate Acting Program under the tutelage of Zelda Fichandler and Ron Van Lieu. Ms. Salter is currently the Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts within Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.

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