Sharon Martin is ‘Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill’

3rd July 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

Vocalist and actress Sharon Martin reprises her role as the legendary Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” to be staged every Friday and Saturday night in July (starting on July 7) at Sweet Lorraine’s. Directed by the noted Tommye Myrick, the renowned musical play, which premiered in 1986, depicts Holiday at a 1959 show at Philadelphia’s Emerson’s Tavern. As portrayed, it was late in the extremely troubled though brilliant singer’s life and, while liberally sipping whiskey, she offers up classics like “Don’t Explain” and “Fine and Mellow” interspersed by diatribes on racism and degradation.

“It was her love of music that helped her get through it,” offers Martin on Holiday’s tough life. In preparation for the part, Martin “researched interviews and watched her live performances to get her character and little nuances and how she carried herself. I took note of how she was when she wasn’t high and how she was when she spoke to white audiences or hosts. Then she was a little laid back and not as verbose as she was with her peers when she was drunk or high and happy.”

Martin, a talented interpreter of songs in her own right, is backed by a trio that includes her husband and musical director, bassist Michael Woods as Boston Blacky, pianist Dr. Robert Perry as Jimmy Powers – “he’s my (Billie’s) main man. He’s the one who would get fixes for her and keeps her happy — and drummer John “Raddy” Lowery as Raddy. Norman Robinson, noted former WDSU-TV news anchor, returns to the production as the club’s host, Hal Emerson. Robinson made his acting debut in the role when it was recently presented at Pontchartrain Landing.

“Norman did extremely well,” Martin says of the first-time actor. “He kind of eggs the audience on and he gets ticked with me (as Holiday) because sometimes I talk a little too much. He has to keep me in line because I’m drinking. He interacts with me, the band and the audience — he’s integral.

“The audience took some of the pressure off,” Robinson acknowledges of playing Hal, who Holiday calls “Em.” “It’s a role where you can interact with the audience as much as you want or as little as you want. I fed off their energy.”

It might be expected that acting drunk — both singing and talking as if inebriated — could be a challenge. “It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I’ve seen drunken people and how they act,” Martin says then laughs. From a story she tells, it’s clear she was convincing as a juicer.

“I was walking off of the stage and I was trying to reach the bannister,” remembers Martin who did so in character. “This lady got out of her chair and said, ‘I’ll help you down the stairs, Billie.’”

Previous to that moment, Martin sings one of the most important and poignant songs performed and recorded most famously by Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit.” The lyrics, “Southern trees bear strange fruit… Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,” refer, of course, to the lynching of Blacks that remained so prevalent at the time.

Holiday had been raging about a blonde waitress who wouldn’t let her use the bathroom and all the degradation she had suffered during a tour.

“When she gets to that point she’s had a few drinks and the band leads her into “Strange Fruit” since that was the essence of what she was saying and also because she wouldn’t stop talking,” Martin offers. “She’s ready to just get off the stage for a fix right now — the alcohol isn’t doin’ it.”

Martin was first exposed to “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” in 1992 when she was an understudy for vocalist/actress Wanda Rouzan who was playing the lead. She only stepped in for Rouzan at one performance of the play which was also directed by Myrick and featured Ellis Marsalis on piano. Twenty years later, Martin and Myrick were working together again when the production was presented at Franklin Avenue’s JuJu Bag Café.

“It was supposed to be a three week run and it turned into three months,” says Martin retaining her sense of surprise at its longevity. She also remembers the time-consuming work involved performing three nights every weekend at the JuJu where the show was put on in the patio.

Myrick was also responsible for recruiting Robinson to play the role of Hal Emerson for the recent Ponchartrain Landing’s presentation of “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.”

“I met Tommye Myrick in the early ‘80s and as a broadcast journalist I’ve done stories with her and talked with her a lot about the arts and the African-American culture,” says Robinson who clearly recalls the call he received from her concerning getting involved with theater. “She said, ‘Say, mister retired man, are you just gonna sit in that chair or are you going to do something bold and interesting and branch out? I have something in mind for you.’”

“I considered that a challenge,” Robinson recalls, though he also made certain that she knew he wasn’t interested in “doing any heavy lifting – devoting hours and hours learning a lot of lines.” The part of Hal was a light, supporting role and something Robinson thought he could handle. “I said, ‘Why not?’ I’ve always been about expanding my horizon and doing something different. I discovered that the hardest part of acting is not acting. It’s about reacting to what’s going on.”

Martin, who has won rave reviews for her portrayal of Billie Holiday as a vocalist as well for her empathetic embrace of Lady Day’s personality, looks forward to having the play presented in a club setting as it was originally conceived. “It’s not staged,” she points out, “it’s in an actual nightclub.”

“For me, Sharon is Lady Day,” Robinson declares.

Reservations for dinner, 6:30 p.m., and a show, 8 p.m. or the show only at Sweet Lorraine’s, 1931 St. Claude Avenue, are available by calling (504) 333-6748.

This article originally published in the July 3, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.