Why Lady sang the blues

December 4, 1996
Issue 

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
A Musical Play by Lanie Robertson
Performed by Joy Yates
Directed by Crispin Taylor
Ensemble Theatre, Sydney, until December 14
Reviewed by Trish Corcoran

Ensemble Theatre is a peculiar location for showing the life of Billie Holiday. It is on Sydney Harbour's waterfront in Kirribilli, just down the road from John Howard's place. The atmosphere was quite awkward; it was almost as though the rich and elite of society were viewing what life is like for the poor and oppressed.

The play is set as though were is one of Billie Holiday's performances. The audience is the crowd at Emerson's Bar & Grill in Philadelphia. The performance incorporates a selection of Holiday's songs as well as tales from her life.

We hear stories about her friendship with her mother, only 13 years older than herself. We hear about her failed relationship with her first lover, a drug dealer who stashed heroin in her suitcase which resulted in a term in prison for Holiday.

We get a glimpse of what life was like for a black woman who wanted to be a star — the way she was treated by the management at the hotels where she performed. At one hotel, management would not allow a black woman to eat in the restaurant, so the whole band joined Holiday in the kitchen. When she asked if she could go to the toilet, she was informed that there was only a male toilet for the workers and she was not allowed to use the women's toilet in the restaurant. After arguing with the manager for some time, Holiday taught her a lesson by pissing on her shoes.

Joy Yates is a jazz singer whose career spans three decades, working mainly in New Zealand and Australia. Her performance was disappointing. Her portrayal of an African-American woman was not very natural, often quite stilted and awkward. The best feature of the evening was the music, although I would have liked to have hear more about Holiday's life.

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