It’s the last week to see the Billie Holiday Story at the Charing Cross Theatre, a personal and musical biography of Billie Holiday’s life written and performed by British actress Nina Kristofferson.
A live band directed by Allan Rogers opened the one-woman show to an intimate crowd anticipating the appearance of Billie Holiday. In a charming costume that accentuated her womanly silhouette, Nina entered in darkness and found her cue under a spotlight, focused on her lips. As she sang the opening song I instantly noticed how she enunciated each word and pursed her lips at the end of each note. This is an actress who has studied Billie Holiday, her every move, her sense of style and her inner pain to deliver an emotional roller coaster of a performance.
One minute I was swaying and bobbing my head, the next saddened by scenes of destructive drug abuse and stories of prostitution and rape. I learnt a lot about Billie holiday during her monologues and admittedly I was so caught up in the late singers mesmerising voice, I’ve never delved into her turbulent past.
The audience remained inhibited for most of the performance even when the band played a foot-tapping instrumental. Nina managed to bring them to life when she walked through the isles and danced with a few male audience members. One man in particular either connected on a deeper level with Billie Holiday’s story or drank too much champagne. Whichever one it was, he made a right nuisance of himself by answering rhetorical questions and interrupting emotive monologues. When asked to leave, it resulted in punches being thrown. A very shocking experience for the modest British theatre goer, the auditorium snarled and booed at his disregard of theatre etiquette. But, Nina remained in character throughout the saga, returning the audience’s attention back to her with a convincing line – ‘Now that’s what it was like for me some nights’, she confessed unfazed by the incident. A loud applause followed and awakened an audience that was very unresponsive to start, and who were more willing to show their appreciation for Nina’s ability to command a stage.
I’m sure for Billie Holiday and Nina this is all in a night’s work and no two nights are ever the same. I caught up with Nina at the end of the performance to ask her how she prepared for her role, as Billie Holiday and here’s is what she had to say.
‘I love Jazz music and I do a lot of Jazz concerts performing songs from the likes of Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald … the list goes on. I’ve always sung songs by these women, but with Billie Holiday, it’s completely different, she was a woman who sang behind the beat, she has a drawl, she plays with the music in different ways expressing profound emotion. That’s what I wanted to pay tribute too while taking the audience on her journey’
The Billie Holiday Story ends on Saturday 25th May. Buy tickets here