by L. Kravit-Smith
Olympia theater is back! After a long-awaited pandemic setback, shows at the Harlequin Theater are going steady once more. Harlequin has updated their regulations when it comes to seeing shows with a mandatory mask and vaccination requirement. They’re not allowing max capacity in their theater and are being conscious about the health and safety of their staff, artists, gig workers, volunteers, and their patrons. With that said, the shows that they’re putting on this season are not worth missing! The ticket prices for students are $25.00, but Harlequin frequently has set days where entry to a performance is pay-what-you-can. Their lineup for these next months are “Tenderly” by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman, “Until the Flood” by Dael Orlandersmith, and finally “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” by Lanie Roberston. There is more to come following this lineup, which ends in January.
The show that I was lucky enough to attend was “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” a musical performance based around the legend of Billie Holiday’s life. Set in 1959, the play is staged in an old bar in Philadelphia. The audience, unknowingly, is set up to be the witnesses of one of Holiday’s last shows ever, performed around 4 months before her passing. In this play, Holiday interacts with the audience in a witty and satirical way that discusses her life as a Black woman, singer, and performer in the segregated south. She is accompanied by a live band, one of whom includes her lover Jimmy Powers. Her music shares her stories and heartbreak, racism, sexism and her history of past relationships and drug use. Alexandria J. Henderson, who plays Billie Holiday, is a force to be seen. Henderson’s voice mirrors the voice of the late Holiday in a way that one can’t begin to describe. Her spirit and attitude echoed through the theater in a mesmerizing and astonishing way. So powerful it sends chills up your spine. The close and intimate setting of the Harlequin theater only adds to this experience. A band accompanies Henderson’s magical voice, with Addison Daniels on piano, Lamar Lofton on bass, and Maria Wulf on drums – all incredibly talented musicians, who add to the performance. The play weaves the audience through Billie Holiday’s life and shines light on her childhood as well as her relationship with her mother, who she called “the duchess.” She explains throughout the play how race and gender have impacted her life, both personal and professional. It was a powerful display of Billie Holiday’s career and interpersonal life and it allowed the audience a brief glimpse into this legend of a performer’s stories and experiences. It was also refreshing to see an Olympia theater performance that had a majority of people of color acting and playing instruments. As a Brown Indigenous person, I rarely saw actors that looked like me on stage. It was wonderful to see more representation in the Olympia area.
