Billie Holiday: Front and Center

Reviewed by Nikki Munoz
Champion Club Productions
Through August 18

Eleanora Fagan — better known as Billie Holiday — was one of the most influential jazz singers of the 20th century. Nicknamed “Lady Day,” she was a transfixing performer; offstage, she lived a rough and turbulent life that belied her beautiful voice. Billie Holiday: Front and Center aims to showcase the vast gulf between these private and public lives. While the production aims to celebrate and illuminate the singer’s life, it falters in many technical and performative ways.

Written by Sybil D. Jatta (who also stars as Holiday) and directed by B’ANCA, the story begins with Holiday as a child. She is still known as Eleanora and years away from the start of her singing career. What follows are vignettes depicting Holiday’s life that are interspersed with a collection of her songs (and two original songs written for the show).

Holiday went through many tough times. She suffered an attempted rape as a child and was sold into prostitution as a young teenager. Later, after her career began, she became addicted to drugs.

The problem with the piece is not the material, which is dramatic, but its structure. The plot is laid like a series of bullet points instead of a narrative arc. No matter that the musical numbers may have been intended as the center of the production; the brief biographical segments between them come across as rushed and unorganized.

Jatta, the writer/performer, is clearly dedicated to Holiday’s memory. She is a phenomenal vocalist with a stellar voice. She commands attention through channeling the beloved singer during the tribute performances. Yet, half the job demands acting out the vignettes that illustrate Holiday’s life. This is where Jatta falls short, as her acting is timid and restrained — a huge contrast to the confidence she projects when she sings. You can almost forget about this wavering presence during the musical numbers — but, unfortunately, not quite.

Ultimately, the production relies on the audience’s love of Billie to look past the lack of a clear structure and Jatta’s verging-on-meek performance. This tactic succeeds to some degree: The audience receives something akin to a tribute concert with blurbs of information in between. Yet, there is a hint of disservice when a production is not tweaked and perfected to its fully polished best. Still, the audience leaves with Holiday’s songs in their heads and, likely, smiles on their faces — and maybe that was the intention after all.

WACO Theater Center, 5144 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m..; through Aug. 18. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/billie-holiday-front-and-center-tickets-63407808462. Running time: one hour and 35 minutes.