The Setting: A small bar in South Philadelphia. March, 1959.

Recommended Grade Level: 10-12

Related Subjects: Jazz; The Blues; Great Figures of American Music: Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Artie Shaw; The Harlem Renaissance; Segregation; Race Relations

The Story: Tony-nominated director Marion McClinton returns to direct this beautiful, heartbreaking musical tribute to the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday, who during one of her last performances recalls her life, from her start scrubbing steps in Baltimore through her rise to fame. In a blend of biography and cabaret, Holiday reflects on her life, her mother, her tendency to chase no good men, and her music. From romantic classics like “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” to powerful “Strange Fruit,” to the iconic “God Bless the Child,” more than a dozen songs that helped create the American Songbook, bring Holiday to life for an evening of powerful entertainment. Her music will touch them. Her struggle to be uniquely herself will move them. Her brave confrontation of racial wrongs will inspire them. This fiery portrait of an American Icon will prompt thoughtful discussion of racial discrimination and the powerful poetry of music.