The Warehouse Theatre launches its new season with a play that traces the life of Billie Holiday.

Wednesday, April 30, is opening night, and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill is a fitting production for the start of the new season of the Warehouse in Dingwall Road.

Local girl Dawn Hope, plays Billie and sees this amazing character jazz and blues legend and worthy diva as

triumphant.

"As soon as anyone mentions Billie Holiday, the notion of a tragic, coloured, drug-taking singer is envisaged. That's just not so. People forget about her background and often know very little about the woman, just her sad ending," said Dawn.

"I see her life as a total victory. It is a sad story, but the image of a woman with a string of bad lovers, drinking and addicted to drugs is not the full picture.

"Lady Day concerns the last four months in Billie Holiday's life. She is making one of her final appearances in a small bar in 1959. She is worn down and beaten by life, dressed in a sorry state and performing to about half a dozen people.

"It might sound pathetic but the more I learned about Billie the more I realised that she would not want

anyone to feel sorry for her. She would knock them out!" Dawn laughed.

Dawn has researched her role in great detail and since her success in this musical, dramatic piece, she has been overwhelmed with more information. "It's like I'm a magnet for information, people from all over have been imparting knowledge of Billie. It's just fantastic that I have been able to learn so much more about Billie." But Dawn's award-

winning performance is what has encouraged the deluge of information.

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, by Lanie Robertson, is a two-hander. Her co-star and musical director of the play, is Warren Wills who plays Jimmy Power.

Midnight in a small bar and Billie begins her evening's cabaret. Between her songs she gradually pours out the stories of her life the heartaches and the triumphs.

"She could take care of herself and there is so much laughter in the show. And then while you are laughing you are hit with a traumatic moment.

"She had spirit and this show gives you a broader picture," said Dawn.

"Billie said 'I never sing anything I never lived' and that was the essence of her performance. I've read so much about her, how she was raped at 10, her own mother was just 14, and her grandmother cared for her.

"Her grandmother died wrapped around her, so many tragic events in her life, yet she was so creative through her music. Her God Bless The Child speaks volumes," she added.

It would be an understatement to say Dawn admires Billie Holiday, and yet she herself has an admirable,

impressive CV. She trained at Corona Stage School and later played the leading role in David Puttman's film SWALK.

She made her West End debut at 16 in The Black Mikado. She appeared in the London productions of Bubbling Brown Sugar and Chicago, and made history by performing in two West End plays at the same time, Chicago at night and Ain't Misbehavin' on matinees. Dawn's theatre credits, nominations and awards are numerous. Her versatility has led to television work that includes Waiting for God and Casualty.

She speaks with justified pride in her work and tremendous

enthusiasm. As a singer/dancer she was never short of work, but an accident changed her career path.

Dawn explained: "I was in a lot of musicals, but they can stifle your talent by casting you to type.

"A car accident stopped a lot of the dancing, but it opened up a door for me. I was a dancer/singer, but now the level of my acting has risen. After the accident I thought so now the acting and singing are going to produce the goods!'

"My success with Lady Day has given me confidence and understanding to move on. I'm now ready to take on more." But for now see Dawn Hope as Billie Holiday in this warm and wonderful production that features over a dozen of the songs that transformed the charismatic singer they called Lady Day into a legend.

April 30, 2003 13:00