All Eleanora Fagan wanted in life was a house of her own, some children to fill it, and a night club where she could sing for her friends. Her childhood, however, set her on a path of sadness where her mother was frequently absent, she left school at eleven as a teen, a neighbor tried to rape her, and her mother sent her to be “a maid” at a house of prostitution. From this tragic beginning, Eleanora transformed herself into a gifted vocalist known for her style, tempo and phasing as well as her influence on jazz music and improvisational skills.
Until Sunday, May 31, you are cordially invited to make the acquaintance of Eleanora as Billie Holiday at Ivoryton Playhouse in the moving musical “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” by Lanie Robertson. In 1958, Frank Sinatra stated, “It is Billie Holiday who was, and still remains, the greatest single musical influence on me.”
Lady Day is unquestionably the most important influence on American popular singing in the last twenty years. Billie sang and recorded with such stellar bands as Count Basie, Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, among others, often finding the color of her skin an impediment to where she was allowed to perform. Her history with abusive men and her addictions to drugs and alcohol pursued her at every step. Serving time in prison cost her dearly, but friends organized a comeback concert at Carnegie Hall to a sold out crowd.
The damage to her career and to her addictions dictated that she only earned $11 in royalties the year before her death in 1959. Christiana Acosta Robinson is sadly luminous as Billie, as she tries to recapture the bloom on her trademark gardenias, a flower she wore in her hair nightly performing. Musical director Manny Houston portrays her pianist and protector, her main man Jimmy Powers, as she sings such classics as “God Bless the Child,” “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do,” “When a Woman Loves a Man,” “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and “Strange Fruit.”
For tickets ($60 adults, $55 seniors, $25 students and discount tickets for $30 Thursday at 6 p.m. when available), call Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton at 860-767-7318, or online at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org. Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and ‘Wednesday,Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Todd L. Underwood directs this heartfelt tale of a star, one whose difficult life tried to dim her sparkle.
Despite lacking formal musical training, Holiday, who died at 44, won four Grammy Awards, all after her death, for Best Historical Album, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, that announced “Billie Holiday changed jazz forever.” She is also listed as one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR and fourth on Rolling Stones list of “200 Greatest Singers of All Time.”
According to Billie Holiday, “Singing in a club is heaven,..,.and the best part of living to me.” She endured racial prejudice and great odds to overcome and reach her goals. Let her velvet voice caress you and her silky sounds and glorious vocals astound you, so you can learn the price she paid for her passion. Jazz historian Loren Schoenberg stated “no one should dispute that Billie Holiday is the definitive Jazz Singer” which nobody surely can deny.
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