Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill was a 1986 Off-Broadway hit at the Vineyard Theatre. Lonny Price will direct. Price takes the place of the previously announced Tazewell Thompson. The play with music looks at one of the last performances of Billie Holiday, the famed jazz chanteuse. Ernestine Jackson received Tony nominations for her work on Broadway in Raisin and the 1977 Guys and Dolls revival, in which she played Sarah Brown. She won a Theatre World Award for Raisin. She made her Broadway debut in Hello, Dolly! More recently, she acted in the Broadway premiere of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone.
Joining her on stage is Broadway keyboardist Darryl G. Ivey.
James Noone is the set designer, with Tracey Christensen designing costumes.