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Step back in time to South Philadelphia in 1959. Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill is a Tony award-winning play that brings to life the soul and struggles of jazz legend, Billie Holiday. Featuring a selection of Billie’s iconic songs including “Strange Fruit” and “God Bless the Child”, this acclaimed play with music transports the audience on a spellbinding journey for one of the jazz legend’s final concerts.

Many thanks to Chris Arnott from the Hartford Courant for this wonderful article about Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill and in-depth interview with Christina Acosta Robinson!

There is no intermission during this show.

Tickets are $60 for adults; $55 for seniors; $25 for students of all ages (plus fee) and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860.767.7318 or click here to purchase online.

When purchasing online, please make sure you choose the correct ticket price in the drop down list.  Options are Adult, Senior or Student.

This production contains mature themes and language consistent with the life and experiences of Billie Holiday.

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DID YOU KNOW?  Ivoryton Playhouse offers discounted tickets on Thursday nights!  On Thursday nights at 6:00pm, tickets for that night’s 7:30pm performance can be purchased for only $30.  Limit four tickets per person.  Tickets available at the box office only, for that performance only.  Subject to availability. It is a mission of Ivoryton Playhouse to bring affordable, professional, high quality theatre experiences to our community.

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Photos courtesy of Jonathan Steele

Christina Acosta Robinson* (Billie Holiday): Ivoryton Playhouse debut! Last seen on Broadway originating the role of The Godmother in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bad Cinderella. Also, the Broadway original cast of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Recent regional credits include a Connecticut Critic’s Circle nomination for her role as Florie Barton in Yale Repertory Theater’s production of Eden. The Color Purple (Shug Avery), The Wiz (Glinda), 42^nd Street (Dorothy Brock), Footloose (Vi Moore), at Broadway Sacramento Music Circus. A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Guthrie Theater and also recently at Elm Shakespeare Festival. A Raisin in the Sun at Yale Repertory Theatre. Once on this Island at Cincinnati Playhouse. Seven Guitars at Two River Theatre. And The Piano Lesson at Hartford Stage. Other theaters include The Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, St. Louis Repertory Theatre, Tantrum Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival. All my love to my husband Ken, and our children, Marilyn, Bennie, and Trace
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Manny Houston* (Jimmy Powers / Piano), originally from Charleston, SC. Manny was last seen on Broadway in Illinoise. Other credits include Freestyle Love Supreme: Las Vegas and the original Off-Broadway cast of Forbidden Broadway: Next Generation. He has performed alongside the likes of Ne-Yo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Wayne Brady, Stephen Colbert, GC Cameron of The Spinners, and Glenn Leonard of The Temptations. Manny is also a professional songwriter and holds a degree in classical piano performance from the College of Charleston. SOCIALS:  @themannyhouston

Musicians:

Eneji Alungbe (Bass) is a cellist, bassist, and educator from New Britain, CT. Eneji initially started on cello in the third grade, where it became his primary instrument while pursuing his Music Education degree at Central Connecticut State University (matriculated 2025). During his college studies Eneji also discovered a passion for jazz bass, going on to study under giants of the instrument Nat Reeves and “Maestro” Ron Carter. Alongside freelance work, Eneji currently works as a bass accompanist for the Hartt School of Music and the strings teacher for Renbrook School in West Hartford.

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Jocelyn Pleasant (Drums) is a drummer, percussionist, educator, and bandleader, currently based in Middletown, CT. Her performance credits on drum set and percussion are extensive and showcase her versatility and ability to play many genres of music. For example, she has performed with vibraphonist Jay Hoggard, Guinean guitarist Mamady Kouyate and his band Mandingo Ambassadors, the Senegal America Project (a group that includes Abiodun Oyewele of The Last Poets), and in NYC’s Lady Got Chops Jazz Festival with various artists including Linda May Han Oh, Sumi Tonooka, Kim Clarke, and the late Nicki Mathis.  Jocelyn’s ensemble, The Lost Tribe, performs music that combines West African rhythms and songs with jazz, funk, hip hop and other genres – performing at festivals and venues across New England. In addition to leading The Lost Tribe, Jocelyn currently tours nationally with The Afro Semitic Experience (jazz-soul-klezmer band), co-leads the tap-n-jazz ensemble Medusa, and teaches at The University of Rhode Island.

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Director:  Todd L. Underwood

Musical Director:  Manny Houston

Stage Manager:  James Joseph Clark*

Assistant Stage Manager:  Holly Price

Scenic Designer:  Marcus Abbott

Lighting Designer:  Marcus Abbott

Sound Designer:  Rhian Franchebois

Audio Engineer:  Brian Salvia

Costume Designer:  Sean Spina

Wig Designer:  Nikiya Mathis

Wig Associate:  Tinika Sadiku

Props Master:  Kat Schorn

Wardrobe Supervisor:  Allie Cristante

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* member of Actors Equity

This production contains mature themes and language consistent with the life and experiences of Billie Holiday.

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Billie Holiday
Strange Fruit
Composed by Abel Meeropol (aka Lewis Allan)

Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed “Lady Day” by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly influenced by jazz instrumentalists, inspired a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Holiday was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.

After a turbulent childhood, Holiday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem where she was heard by producer John Hammond, who liked her voice. Holiday signed a recording contract with Brunswick in 1935. Her collaboration with Teddy Wilson produced the hit “What a Little Moonlight Can Do“, which became a jazz standard. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had mainstream success on labels such as Columbia and Decca. However, by the late 1940s, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, Holiday performed a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. She was a successful concert performer throughout the 1950s, with two further sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall. Because of personal struggles and an altered voice, Holiday’s final recordings were met with mixed reaction, but were mild commercial successes. Her final album, Lady in Satin, was released in 1958. Holiday died of cirrhosis and heart failure on July 17, 1959, at age 44.

Holiday won four Grammy Awards, all of them posthumously, for Best Historical Album. She was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. In 2000, Holiday was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence; their website states that “Billie Holiday changed jazz forever”.^[2] She was named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR and was ranked fourth on the Rolling Stone list of “200 Greatest Singers of All Time” (2023).^[3] Several films about Holiday’s life have been released, most recently The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021).

• Early Life: Born in Philadelphia and raised in Baltimore, she faced extreme poverty, abuse, and prostitution-related arrests as a teenager before moving to New York in the late 1920s.
• Rise to Fame: Discovered by producer John Hammond in 1933, she began recording with artists like Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson.
• Style and Legacy: Known for her ability to “swing” and improvise, she was nicknamed “Lady Day” by her close friend and musical partner, saxophonist Lester Young.
• “Strange Fruit”: Recorded in 1939, this haunting song about lynching became a defining,, politically charged masterpiece of her career.
• Challenges and Death: Her later years were marked by drug addiction, legal issues, and a 1947 prison sentence. Despite these struggles, she continued to perform, including sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall.
• Signature Songs: Besides “Strange Fruit,” her hits include “God Bless the Child,” “Don’t Explain,” and “What a Little Moonlight Can Do“. 

Headshot

A Note From The Director…

In working on Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, I kept coming back to the person behind the legend of Billie Holiday. This play drops us into a late-night set near the end of her life, where the music and her memories start to blur together. It’s not just a concert—it’s Billie talking to us, sharing pieces of her story as she goes.

We wanted to show her in all her contradictions: bold and hilarious, but also guarded and hurting. The songs aren’t just performances—they’re tied to real moments in her life, and you can feel that in every note.

This piece is meant to feel close, like you’re sitting in the club with her. It’s a little messy, a little unpredictable, and very real.

Listen to what she says, but also what she doesn’t. That’s where the truth really is.

And if you find yourself unsure whether to laugh, lean in, or sit quietly—trust that instinct. That tension is part of the experience, just like it was for her.

Todd L. Underwood

Check back here for photos and video clips!

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Many thanks to Chris Arnott from the Hartford Courant for this wonderful article about Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill and in-depth interview with Christina Acosta Robinson!

Ivoryton Playhouse continues its 2026 season with Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, the powerful and intimate portrait of jazz legend Billie Holiday. Previews begin May 7, opening night is May 8, and the production runs through May 31.

Set in a small Philadelphia nightclub in 1959, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill captures one of Billie Holiday’s final performances. Through unforgettable songs and raw, unfiltered storytelling, Holiday reflects on her life, her loves, and the struggles that shaped her artistry. Featuring many of her most iconic songs, including “God Bless the Child” and “Strange Fruit,” the play offers an evening that is as musically rich as it is emotionally compelling.

Starring Broadway-alum Christina Acosta Robinson* (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical) as Billie Holiday, the production brings to life the vulnerability, wit, and brilliance of one of America’s most influential voices. She is joined by actor-musician Manny Houston* as Jimmie Powers, Holiday’s accompanist and confidant, who also serves as Music Director for this production. The live band features Houston and includes Jocelyn Pleasant on drums and Eneji Alungbe on upright bass, creating an authentic, intimate jazz club atmosphere inside the Playhouse.

Todd L. Underwood serves as the Director, with Scenic and Lighting Designer Marcus Abbott,, Props Designer Kat Schorn, Costume Designer Sean Spina, Sound Designer Rhian Franchebois, Audio Engineer Brian Salvia, Stage Manager Jim Clark*, and Assistant Stage Manager Holly Price. The creative team is joined by Tinika Sadiku as the Wig Associate, and Nikiya Mathis as Wig Designer, who made Broadway history in 2024 as the first hair and wig designer to receive a Special Tony Award for her work on Best Play Nominee Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.

Find tickets and more information at: Ivorytonplayhouse.org

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill
Where: Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton CT, 06442
When: Previews May 7; Opens May 8; Runs through May 31
What: Broadway’s Christina Acosta Robinson* stars as Billie Holiday in this intimate, music-filled portrait set during one of her final performances. Featuring live jazz and iconic songs, the production explores the life, legacy, and voice of one of America’s greatest artists.
Tickets: ivorytonplayhouse.org | 860-767-7318
Note: Contains mature themes and language.  There is no intermission during this show.

About Ivoryton Playhouse: Ivoryton Playhouse is a renowned small professional theater on the Shoreline. It is known for its exceptional productions and commitment to creating unforgettable experiences for audiences of all ages.

*Appearing through an agreement between this theatre and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Photos courtesy of Jonathan Steele

For more information, interviews, and press inquiries, please contact:
Ben Hope, Executive Producer – ben@ivorytonplayhouse.org

For press tickets, please contact:
Susan McCann – susanmc@ivorytonplayhouse.org

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Looking for something to do? Ivoryton Playhouse has been voted best place to see live theatre by readers of The Shoreline Times for three years in a row. Come to Essex and visit our historic, professional theatre – a Connecticut treasure!