Audra McDonald Will Reprise Tony-Winning Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill Performance on HBO

Lady Day’s heading to the small screen! Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald will reprise her performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill on HBO. The special will be filmed with a live audience later this month at Café Brasil in New Orleans. Lonny Price, who helmed the Broadway production earlier this year at the Circle in the Square Theatre, will return to direct. A premiere date has yet to be announced.

Lady Day, written by Lanie Robertson, tells the life story of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday through the songs that made her famous. Set in 1959, in an intimate bar in Philadelphia, Holiday puts on a show that, unbeknownst to the audience, will leave them witness to one of the last performances of her lifetime. The show features 18 musical numbers, including “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” “Tain't Nobody’s Biz-ness” and “God Bless the Child.”

In addition to Lady Day, McDonald has won Tony awards for Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun and Porgy and Bess. On screen, she has appeared in The Sound of Music Live!, Annie, Private Practice and Wit. She is rumored to be attached to the projects Corrina, Corrina and Night, Mother opposite Oprah Winfrey.