Beautiful! Stunning! Evocative! Elegant! Triumphant!

Shadowland Stages’ latest production “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” is all of these things and more!

Written by Lanie Robertson and flawlessly directed by Tracey Conyer Lee, “Lady Day” stars 

Christina Acosta Robinson as the legendary singer Billie Holiday, and Brennan Stylez as her piano player Jimmy Powers. 

The play takes place at one of Holiday’s final performances just a few months before she died. 

Through 14 musical numbers intertwined with stories, Robinson channels Billie Holiday or Lady Day, a nickname she tells us, given to her by saxophonist Lester Young. 

Using her deep, rich and sensuous voice, Robinson slowly takes us through Holiday’s life, her loves, her triumphs and her troubles. The songs and stories come from the depth of her soul and the richness of her heart. Her language is spicy and sometimes suggestive. It’s real life and genuine emotion, earnest, fervent and truthful. Robinson bares Holiday’s soul to us, telling some tales that may make us uncomfortable, and others that reveal her passion, her love, her humor, her positive outlook on life, and her never-ending love of music. “Singing is living to me,” she tells us. 

Robinson serenades us with many of Holiday’s greatest pieces like “God Bless the Child,” “Strange Fruit,” “Crazy He Calls Me,” and “Don’t Explain.” Her voice is magnificent, glorious, dazzling!. In a previous performance at Ivoryton Playhouse, Robinson was given the 2026 Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for her portrayal.

Brennan Stylez accompanies Robinson on the piano, and can almost be seen as Lady Day’s guardian and protector, keeping her on task with a few notes of her next song if she wanders during her storytelling. His quiet but meaningful side-eye brings her back if she gets lost in sadness or reverie. And late in the play, Stylez performs a beautiful solo to cover as Holiday takes a break. 

Both performers have extensive biographies. Both are consummate performers. Both will keep you mesmerized from the first piano notes to the final chord.  

Scenic Designer Baron E. Pugh, along with Master Carpenter Robert Costa and Scenic Artist Sheryl Richmond, have transformed the Shadowland Stages Studio into a 1959 Philadelphia bar with brick walls, tables and chairs, an upright piano, and old-style microphones. It’s exactly how you would picture an old 1959 nightclub in your mind. And Lighting Designer Jeremy Johnson keeps it dark and moody, soft and subtle. Sound Designer Dean Mahoney keeps a nice balance between the standard performance mics and the mics used for the songs. Costume Designer Niiamar Felder and Wardrobe Mistress Cindy Johnson chose a beautiful cream-colored evening gown for Robinson and a fashionable suit for Stylez. 

“Lady Day” is a moving, poignant portrait of a supremely talented singer in the last few months of her life. It’s touching, affecting, funny, entertaining, tragic, heartwarming, emotional and sentimental. It’s all of these things and so much more, graced with the talent of two accomplished and skillful performers. 

“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” is playing through October 4 at the Shadowland Stages Studio, 14 Market Street in Ellenville. Performances are on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Purchase tickets online at shadowlandstages.org or call the box office at 845-647-5511.