David Ayers and More Join Dee Dee Bridgewater in Off-Broadway Billie Holiday Musical Lady Day

David Ayers and more are joining the cast of the upcoming off-Broadway musical Lady Day, which stars Tony and Grammy winner Dee Dee Bridgewater as legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday. Previews begin at the Little Shubert Theatre on September 19, with opening scheduled for October 3.

Ayers is currently starring in the closing cast of off-Broadway's hit Silence! The Musical. He's best known to theater audiences for his role as Fiyero in Wicked, as well as Mamma Mia! and the 2004 Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof.

In addition to Ayers are newcomer Rafael Poueriet, who will play the Assistant Stage Manager, as well as a quartet of musicians: bassist Jim Cammack (a veteran player for Ahmad Jamal), sax player Ken Hitchcock (of the NY Saxophone Quartet & Manhattan Jazz Orchestra), drummer Jerome Jennings (who played with Benny Golson and Sonny Rollins) and pianist Bill Jolly (a three-time Emmy winner).

Written and directed by Stephen Stahl, Lady Day is an original play witih music about the life of Billie Holiday, telling the inspired story of Holiday’s journey to her final comeback performance. The show features over 25 hit Holiday songs including “Strange Fruit,” “God Bless the Child,” “Good Morning Heartache” and “Mean to Me.” Lady Day has been produced at the Theatre de Boulogne-Billancourt and the Theatre du Gymnase Marie Bell in Paris, as well as the Donmar Warehouse and the Piccadilly Theatre in London, where Bridgewater earned an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.