'Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill' is an immersive telling of Billie Holiday's story.

A little bit of moonlight may have been what Billie Holiday asked for, but it was all Carmel needed. Although if you know Holiday’s story, it was hardly required for someone who made the moon shine herself. Local actress Malinda DeRouen was the one to bring Holiday’s beautiful albeit tragic story to life. 

New Canon Theatre Co. has outdone itself once again with its production of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, a performative memoir of the jazz and swing legend Billie Holiday, written by Lanie Robertson and directed by Lisa Gaye Dixon. The play is set at a seedy bar—Emerson's Bar & Grill—in 1959 Philadelphia four months before she dies, where audience members are seated at both cocktail tables and row seating, immersing themselves into the performance. It opens tonight, Friday, June 14, at Sunset Center in Carmel.

DeRouen plays Billie Holiday, a.k.a. Lady Day, alongside pianoman Jimmy Powers, played by local composer John Wineglass. Powers attempts to hold the show together as it seems to fall to pieces—or underscore the brilliance of Holiday—as she narrates the comedic and tragic stories of her lived experiences. 

DeRouen's portrayal of Holiday’s tragedy is palpable and masqueraded by music, almost as if she is imprisoned by the Powers’ tunes, with her only tether to reality being his showmanship and dedication to entertaining the guests in Emerson's. Wineglass’ portrayal is kind, with a gentle "don’t stop dancing" attitude that ultimately led to Holiday’s untimely death. Although the death itself is not witnessed in the show, we see the reality of an imprisoned songbird yearning to be let go from her cage. 

Holiday tells stories between song numbers that range from every human emotion about the Black singer experience during the first half of 20th century America. Her passion for music is matched only by the tragedy she experienced, ironically continuing to touch on her time in federal prison throughout.

The immersive format that has become New Canon Theatre Co.'s signature becomes all too real, transporting the audience to Emerson's Bar & Grill itself in Philadelphia 1959. Throughout the entire performance, the audience is left wondering whether Holiday will die tonight.

DeRouen delivers an eerie, exceptional performance that captures everything that Holiday was, including her voice. Tragedy and glamor clash in an epic battle on a stage where the audience are both entertained and moved to tears.

The play itself is more than homage to Holiday—it’s a story about the death of great and underrepresented musicians of the era. The performance showcases real blows and setbacks to Holiday's career, like those of so many other Black artists suffered while chained to the ball of racism in early to mid-20th-century U.S.

New Canon Theatre Co. is now known for pushing the envelope and they’ve been doing so because they’re young, hungry and fighting for those in the arts who are misrepresented, or not represented at all. The allegory of prison is felt throughout both DeRouen's and Wineglass’ performance. And as the legend herself says thematically during the performance, “You ever hear a dead person singing?” 

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill opens tonight and runs 7:30pm Fridays and Saturdays, 2pm Saturdays and Sundays, June 14-23 at Sunset Center, 9th and San Carlos, Carmel. $35. newcanontheatre.org.