Audra McDonald will make her West End debut this summer portraying famous jazz singer Billie Holiday in the musical play Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.
The production will play for a limited period at Wyndham’s Theatre from 25th June to 3rd September, having previously broken box office records at the Circle in the Square in New York.
Synopsis
Written by Lanie Robertson and directed by Lonny Price, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill recounts Billie Holiday’s life story through the songs that made her famous.
The production is set in 1959, in a small, intimate bar in Philadelphia. The story follows Holiday as she puts on a show that, unbeknownst to the audience, will leave them witnesses to one of the last performances of her lifetime.
The jazz singer shares her loves and losses through her poignant voice and moving songs, which include God Bless the Child, What a Little Moonlight Can Do, Strange Fruit and Taint Nobody’s Biz-ness.
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill won two Tony Awards in 2014 including Best Lead Actress in a Play for Audra McDonald.
Audra McDonald
The singer and actress is the recipient of a record-breaking six Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and an Emmy Award, and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2015.
Productions McDonald has featured in include Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, and The Secret Garden.
She is also a Juilliard-trained soprano, and her opera credits include La voix humaine and Send at Houston Grand Opera, and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at Los Angeles Opera.
You can watch Audra McDonald in in the video below:
Group travel information
Group travel organisers can book tickets for Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill through a dedicated group sales department by calling 0844-482 5100.
For further group travel information visit www.LadyDayWestEnd.com.
