[JPL] A new stage play about Billie Holiday

[Eric Alan at Jazz Rendezvous]

Greetings fellow JPListers,

There is an interesting new play soon to hit the boards in South Africa,
written by veteran broadcaster, playwright and self confessed jazz-a-holic
Nigel Vermaas and thought I¹d like to share the info with you.

DO YOU KNOW BILLIE HOLIDAY? .... a new play with music to premiere in
Grahamstown as part of the National Arts Festival 2009 Main Programme on 5,
6, & 7 July 2009
 
The production marks the 50th anniversary of the death of jazz legend Billie
Holiday, who died on 17th July 1959. 

Why we believe this production, about
an American singer who¹s been dead for 50 years, is important on many
levelsŠ 

MUSICAL CREDIBILITY:
BILLIE HOLIDAY was arguably the greatest jazz singer the world has ever
known, and has influenced singers and musicians from US legend Frank Sinatra
to Cassandra Wilson; from Tina Schouw to Sathima Bea Benjamin and Gloria
Bosman. 
 
SOCIAL UPLIFTMENT: 
Billie¹s story is one of artistic triumph over abuse, sexism, racism, drugs,
and police harassment. There are obvious parallels between Billie¹s life as
a Black woman in the White male-dominated music business in 1930¹s -1950¹s
and the South African situation. As the 50th Anniversary of her death
approaches, we see increasing racism, drug abuse, and (often extremely
violent) abuse of women and children. Billie was no angel, she could give as
good as she got, she never played the victim. She transcended her
circumstances through her art.
 
ARTISTIC CREDENTIALS:
The writer, NIGEL VERMAAS, has been researching the project and working on
it for 8 years. He has produced a documentary on the singer for SAfm, and
included her in the series - 5 MUSICIANS WHO CHANGED THE SHAPE OF JAZZ (for
SAfm¹s Millennium series in the Year 2000). He has presented jazz programmes
and made jazz documentaries on radio for many years. He has won numerous
awards for radio drama scripting and production. He has written for the
theatre and, before joining the SABC in 1987, he directed many stage
productions. 

The National Arts Festival has considered the production
important enough to invite it to appear on the main festival programme.

All these make it a ³worthwhile² project, yes, but there is a more
important aspect: an inspirational one - not sentimental ³hearts and
flowers² but a relevant change of heart and mind: 

In 1947 Billie Holiday
was arrested with her ³husband² Joe Guy for the possession of drugs; she was
sentenced to spend 1 year and 1 day in the Federal Reformatory for Women,
Alderson, West Virginia. She was not represented by counsel. Joe Guy was and
he got off. 

The (white) Warden at Alderson took up the cudgels on a
penniless Billie¹s behalf against heartless agents who withheld money; she
also allowed her telephone calls and letters from non-family members. In
fact, Billie had no family. Her mother to whom she¹d been very close had
died in 1945. 
 
³DO YOU KNOW BILLIE HOLIDAY?² 
The warden was a progressive, practical woman
of the time, who showed both empathy and foresight. She persuaded Billie not
to accept early parole for good behaviour but to stay on and serve her full
term and deal properly with her addiction. In December of 1948, the year of
Billie¹s release, the warden went to see her sing at a nightclub in
Philadelphia. She had not seen her sing before, as Billie had refused to
sing in the amateur shows in the institution. 

The play uses a
fictionalised version of the relationship between the two women to reveal
Billie¹s past, and her innermost thoughts and feelings. 
But it is the
warden (Ellen) who is changed by her encounter with the singer. In the play
she is inspired by actually seeing the singer, and at the age of 50 (the age
at which Billie¹s mother died) she resigns from the Prison Services, and
takes up music again. She buys Billie¹s records. She plays the tunes. 
When
Billie dies, Ellen is now retired, and, in her mid-sixties, she sits at her
piano and remembers Billie, who appears to her to continue the conversations
they had in 1947/48. Their relationship is now very different, the conflicts
more articulated. 

Thus, Ellen comes to realise that she and Billie have
more in common than it would seem. They are symbiotically related. Different
prisons, different abuses suffered, different ways of coping but sisters in
their two male-dominated worlds. 

To put it crudely, the Black artist who
has lived her life on the edge jolts the White bureaucrat out of her comfort
zone and inspires her to live a more fulfilling life. 

This is what we mean
by inspirational. 

THE CAST & CREATIVE TEAM: 

This is not a musical. It is a play with music. Billie does not sing. Ellen
does. 
Ellen is played by Michele Maxwell, who is both a distinguished
actress with many roles to her credit and a highly-acclaimed jazz
singer/pianist/composer. She is also the Musical Director. A few years ago
the versatile Michele collaborated with Thembi Mtshali-Jones on a show that
paid tribute to Nina Simone for the Oude Libertas Summer Season. She was
much praised for her performance as Linda Loman in Bobby Heaney¹s production
of DEATH OF A SALESMAN starring the late Bill Flynn. She is well-known to TV
audiences for her appearances in ISIDINGO and, currently, etv¹s SCANDAL. In
December she appeared with Graham Clarke in HOOKED ON BREL to sold-out
houses in Cape Town. 

The crucial role of Billie Holiday has just been
cast. Mwenya Kabwe will play Lady Day. Mwenya recently won the Fleur du Cap
Best Actress award for her brilliant performance in YELLOWMAN, the riveting
production seen at the Baxter and the Market Theatres. She is a recent
graduate from the University of Cape Town¹s Masters programme in Theatre and
Performance, and is currently a lecturer in the UCT Drama Department. 

²DO
YOU KNOW BILLIE HOLIDAY?² is directed by Nigel Vermaas and designed by Dicky
Longhurst. The Lighting Designer is Daniel Galloway.

Please be so kind as to confirm receipt of this email by way of return
email. Thanks

Warmest regards, 
Have a fabulous day.
Peace, safety and happiness,
See it Š with your own ears
Yours in Music

Eric 

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