Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar And Grill - 2016 - 8/10

Audra McDonald as Billie Holiday in one of her final performances.
Songs, mixed with reminiscences, her incarceration, allusions to substances.
All the while, drinking steadily, deteriorating onstage.
McDonald is absolutely phenomenal, channeling Lady Day’s vocal phrasing, drawl, slipping in comedy along with bitter misery.
Filmed in a small New Orleans club, this gives the impression you are inside the Philly venue.
How McDonald could perform this night after night, live, is beyond belief.
Theatre fans, Jazz fans, this is absolutely not to be missed!