The first few times Karen Perry was first approached to work on “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” she replied with one word: “No.”
The show didn’t fit into her schedule, but Perry – a costume and wig designer for stage and screen, with credits that read as the who’s-who of regional theaters – had other reasons for declining.
The musical, which dramatizes one of the final concerts given by legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday, is full of the things you might expect from a play that tackles Holiday’s life: drug-use, heartache, violence, sexual abuse and recollections of the rampant prejudice Holiday faced as a Black woman in America. And for Perry, designing for a play isn’t simply about putting costumes on actors and letting them loose on stage.
“I’m the kind of designer that no matter what show I’m working on, I’ll take it on like clothing,” she said. “I sleep with it, it becomes part of my dream world.”
And the world of Billie Holiday, with all its intensity and tragedy, wasn’t something Perry wanted to dream about. She had seen Diana Ross’ Oscar-nominated turn in 1972′s “Lady Sings the Blues,” and even enjoyed Audra McDonald’s Tony Award winning take in the Broadway production of “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” but each time another director approached her to design for the show, Perry had the same response. As she put it: “Some plays can just be a little disturbing to my soul.”
But when the opportunity came around again, this time at Syracuse Stage with director Jade King Carroll, she finally said yes. What changed?
For one, Perry knew Carroll. In fact, Carroll had been one of the directors Perry had turned down for “Lady Day.” But this time, their relationship led to conversations, and a realization that working on a Billie Holiday show didn’t have to be all doom and gloom. It could actually be quite the opposite.
“We agreed to make certain that it wasn’t sad,” Perry said. “To make certain that this was sort of the accumulation of all the Billies ever… her good times and her bad times.”
Along with the rest of the design team – which includes scenic designer Brittany Vasta, lighting designer Mary Louise Geiger, and sound designer Jacqueline R. Herter – Perry and Carroll landed on a concept that embraced Holiday’s tumultuous life and reflected it back outwards, like a star shining its brightest just before collapsing. Beautiful, in theory, but for a show built on one set, with no costume changes, illustrating multitudes is not an easy task.
If Holiday’s dress wasn’t just right, Perry risked the audience becoming bored with the onstage image.
“The dress needed to be interesting,” she said. “The dress needed to sparkle.”
And sparkle Holiday did, during her life. Perry’s research images of the singer are plentiful: Holiday’s style goes from elegant, to bold, to luminous, reaching back to classic Hollywood and forward to fashion not yet popular during her lifetime. And Perry’s own sketches, which remain in black and white until it comes time for costume fittings, contain contours, gestures and silhouettes that reveal a woman at once secure with her legacy, and grasping for more. In other words, an artist representing every version of herself, all at once.
For Perry, living in the world of Billie Holiday has brought a new appreciation of the artist’s music, which, just like a stage play, seems to change with every performance. “Billie never sings the same song the same way, ever,” she said.
What version of Billie audiences see when they watch actress Tracey Conyer Lee perform the role at Syracuse Stage will depend on the moment, for the show is buoyed by a catalog of songs that range from mournful and defiant, to bittersweet and hopeful: “Strange Fruit,” “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” “God Bless the Child,” and “Easy Livin,” to name a few. And Perry knows that those songs will connect with audiences, as they watch Lady Day sing the blues.
“It really is going to be a beautiful experience,” she said. “And the costume should be pretty nice to look at too.”
DETAILS
What: “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill”
When: Oct. 18 - Nov. 5
Where: Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse
Tickets/info: syracusestage.org/ladyday