Lady Day Previews — Page 3

Curious about circle club seating? Can one be too close especially if one is on the side (put differently, judging as best I can by the seating chart, how often is she very downstage?) or are they all fairly good seats.

For those that have been, have audience members in the Circle Club been adhering to the request for "Festive Attire"? What has the general dress code been like?

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Just got my tickets--row E, house right, halfway down (which looks good on the seating chart).

Not seeing it until mid-May, so I look forward to 6 weeks of raves from everybody in this thread.

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did anyone rush this morning? if so how was the line? thank you

I can only imagine the exchange Will Swenson and Audra will have when he gets home from his show tonight:

Hey Honey. How was your day?

Oh, you know. I had lunch with a friend, did some shopping, TOOK BROADWAY BY STORM, watched Scandal. Same old, same old.

The show was over in the blink of an eye and I was so dumbfounded the entire time that I don't really remember what happened. I 100% will be seeing this again, if only to try to emblazon the memory of her performance in my mind. I've never been placed under hypnosis, but I can only imagine this is what it feels like.

I loved it. I loved Audra. I LOVED the dog. What's can't this woman do?

It was nice to see a full house at The Circle In the Square; there were more people in attendance tonight than at a week's worth of Bronx Bombers, Soul Doctor or The Miracle Worker performances. They should just let Audra take up permanent residency there and mount whatever productions she wants and allow to play the roles of her choosing.

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And this is "Mister," who was a better husband to her than Louis McKay, the lousy pimp she ended up with. She was bisexual, though, and a torrid affair with Tallulah Bankhead that ended badly when Bankhead found out Billie was writing Lady Sings the Blues.

Bankhead thought she was going to be "outed" and threatened to sue. Billie write back to her, with all the fierceness of a girl who could cut a bitch.

Dear Miss Bankhead:

I thought I was a friend of yours. That's why there was nothing in my book that was unfriendly to you, unkind or libelous. Because I didn't want to drag you, I tried six times last month to talk to you on the damn phone, and tell you about the book just as a matter of courtesy. That bitch you have who impersonates you kept telling me to call back and when I did, it was the same deal until I gave up. But while I was working out of town, you didn't mind talking to Doubleday and suggesting behind my damned back that I had flipped and/or made up those little mentions of you in my book. Baby, Cliff Allen and Billy Heywood are still around. My maid who was with me at the Strand isn't dead either. There are plenty of others around who remember how you carried on so you almost got me fired out of the place. And if you want to get SH*Tty, we can make it a big SH*Tty party. We can all get funky together!

I don't know whether you've got one of those damn lawyers telling you what to do or not. But I'm writing this to give you a chance to answer back quick and apologize to me and to Doubleday. Read my book over again. I understand they sent you a duplicate manuscript. There's nothing in it to hurt you. If you think so, let's talk about it like I wanted to last month. It's going to press right now so there is no time for monkeying around. Straighten up and fly right, Banky! Nobody's trying to drag you.

Billie Holiday

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Updated On: 3/28/14 at 11:03 PM

Wow PJ. That letter is ridiculous! I think Jeanine Tesori should turn it into a stream of consciousness number for Audra a la "Long Distance Call."

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I just wanted to echo the statements above. I was completed mezmerized by Audra McDonald's performance as Billie Holiday. I felt like the clock had been turned back and that we were actually seeing Lady Day herself. Audra's voice, the look, her posture, her demeanor - everything has been completed transformed. I almost can't believe what I actually saw. I was in complete shock after the show - even talking to strangers as we all raved about what we had just witnessed.

This is absolutely not to be missed.

To echo what WithoutATrace said, above: There was one point near the end of the show when Audra/Billie sits down and bends her head slightly. She stayed in that position for quite some time (maybe a full minute?), and I remember thinking, "Man, she is tired! She is weary." It was amazing how Audra conveyed that with just her posture.

I am a huge fan of Billie Holiday and Audra so these raves have gotten me really excited. It is sure to be an emotional evening for me. I don't listen to Holiday's music as much as I use to when I was college because It really does put me on a very specific mood.

That's not a mood, that's a lifestyle!

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