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| Karole Foreman |
By Darlene Donloe
When
Karole Foreman was 10-years-old, she put on a Billie Holiday song and upon
hearing the haunting voice was devastated and began to cry.
“I
took the record off,” she said. “It was so sad.”
Fast
forward and Foreman is set to play the troubled torch singer in Lady
Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill at the International City Theatre, Oct.
18 – through Nov. 3. The show is directed by Wren T. Brown, Ebony
Repertory Theatre’s founding artistic director.
The show which presents a portrait of Holiday’s highs and lows is staged as an
intimate evening with the legendary jazz singer in 1959 at a shabby
Philadelphia club during what would be her final live performance. Holiday
died July 17, 1959. Playwright Lanie Robertson was reportedly inspired by the
performance Holiday gave before a very small audience in a Philadelphia club
(not named Emerson's Bar & Grill) just four months before her death at age
44.
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| Billie Holiday |
At that time Holiday’s voice and body had been ravaged by
years of heroin and alcohol abuse. Nevertheless, Holiday still made a
connection with the audience. The show recommended for ages 16 and up,
contains adult situations and explicit language. It’s about 90 minutes and features
14 songs, including the classics Strange Fruit, God Bless the Child,
Crazy He Calls Me, and T’ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do.
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Karole Foreman as Billie Holiday in ICT's
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill |
Foreman is a seasoned award-winning theater, television and
film actress whose credits are vast and impressive.
She was born in Morocco, grew up in San Diego, and now lives
in Signal Hill, a suburb of Los Angeles with her husband of eight years, Peter Zokosky.
She credits vocal coach Michael Scott Harris and dialect
coach Denise Woods for helping her find Holiday’s voice.
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Karole Foreman as Billie Holiday in ICT's
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill |
I recently caught up with Foreman to talk about her role as
the legendary Billie Holiday.
DD:
Describe the show
KF:
We are doing Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. The show takes place in
Philadelphia where she performed her last show before seven-12 patrons. Can you
imagine? At that time, New York had revoked her cabaret card so she was doing
small clubs out of state. She was fighting for her life and career. She’s a survivor. Her
best friend, Lester Young, had passed away in early 1959. She
reportedly said, ‘you know I’m next.’
DD:
Is this a concert?
KF:
This is set up as an intimate atmosphere. The tone of the show is a play with
music. It is not a concert. Everything about Billie is exposed. It’s just
myself and a pianist. We are recreating a memorable night.
DD:
Talk about your singing background.
KF:
Growing up I was told I couldn’t sing. I was 13 when I became interested in
music. My personality loved being told I couldn’t do something. I
was shy growing up. When I came to L.A. doing auditions, they would ask me to
sing. I always loved singing. I grew up listening to Sarah Vaughn, Nancy
Wilson, and Ella Fitzgerald. It’s been challenging. I love jazz. To step into
something like this is a gift.
DD:
Why did you decide to do a show about Billie Holiday?
KF: Being
older you really want to know who our artists are and were. It’s important to
document. She is our history. She is our legacy. The more you research, the
more elusive she becomes. She was a formidable
artist to be reckoned with.
DD:
Lots of actresses have played Lady Day. What are you going to bring to the role
that others haven’t?
KF:
I missed Deidrie Henry’s. I saw Audra’s (McDonald) I was intimidated. You
always bring yourself. For me, it’s how can I bring her humanity to life, her
vulnerability. I became attracted because of Wren T. Brown. We’ve always
admired each other’s work. I want to explore his vision. We’ve known each other
since the 80s. Investigating any human being like this is a chance to honor her
and to learn more about my humanity. It’s about surrendering to something
greater than myself.
DD: Were you able to collaborate with your director Wren T. Brown?
KF: He wanted to strip away everything that didn't have to do with the story. We talked about dignity. She never saw herself as a victim. That’s our take away from it. We wanted to show she had an exuberance for life.
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| Director Wren T. Brown |
DD:
What kind of a director is Wren T. Brown?
KF:
He’s generous. He also brings a great personal history. He comes from a long
history of entertainers and musicians. Being in the room with him is like being
in a room with music history royalty. He infuses a sensibility. I’m
safe in the rehearsal space with Wren. He’s given me freedom and faith. I
really wanted to get this right. I came in off-book. That’s the kind of
attention this piece deserves. I let the words sink in.
DD: There are lots of shows in and
around Los Angeles. Why should someone come to see
your show?
KF: It’s a wonderful, intimate night of
theater. They will be moved by her stories. Audience members can sit
on stage while we’re doing the show. They will be moved in a way you can’t get
in a movie theater. Theater changes our DNA.
DD: How do you “become” a character?
KF: It depends on the character. This is a
sacred space we’re working in. I understand the need to understand her
relationships. I have to fill my life with her life experiences. My mind is in
communication with her spirit.
DD: In your research what
did you learn about Billie that you didn’t already know?
KF: That she was bisexual. Also,
I don’t know the extent of the sexual abuse she encountered. The true terror of
what she had to go through. The life she lived and how she made it through and
transcended the bullshit. I can build on the foundation they laid. That’s why
the show is still being produced and why it needs to be out in this zeitgeist.
DD: Why are you the right person
to bring this show to life?
KF: Ask my director. The
director said he felt my artistry was right. I think it’s my approach to the
role. My vulnerability and humanity. It’s all about the human being. It’s about
the music. I’m an actor first. She knew how to tell a story. She was always
inside a story. I also love being inside a song.
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Karole Foreman and Musical Director Stephan Terry in
ICT's 'Lady Day At Emerson's Bar and Grill' |
DD: You are working under the music
direction of Stephan Terry.
KF: We have a wonderful music
director, just wonderful. He is a dream.
The creative team for ICT includes set designer
Yuri Okahana, lighting designer Donna Ruzika, costume designer Kim DeShazo,
sound designer Corwin Evans, prop designers Patty and Gordon Briles, and hair
and wigs designer Anthony Gagliardi. Casting is by Michael Donovan.
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill runs Thursdays, Fridays, and
Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., Oct. 18 through Nov. 3. Two preview
performances take place on Wednesday, Oct. 16 and Thursday, Oct. 17, both at 8
p.m. Tickets are $47 on Thursdays and Fridays and $49 on Saturdays and
Sundays, except for Oct. 18 (opening night) for which tickets are $55 and
include a post-performance reception with the actors. Low-priced tickets to
previews are $35.
International City Theatre, Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 330
East Seaside Way in Long Beach, CA 90802. For reservations and information,
call 562-436-4610 or go to InternationalCityTheatre.org.
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill premiered
at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia in 1986 and was produced
off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre later that year, winning the 1987 Outer
Critics Circle Award for “Best Off-Broadway Book.” It opened on Broadway at
Circle in the Square in 2014 starring Audra McDonald, who won her record-breaking
sixth Tony Award for the production and became the only person to win in all
four acting categories, this time for Best Actress in a Play. The Broadway
production was later filmed at the Cafe Brasil in New Orleans and broadcast on
HBO.
