A nightclub-like setting with cabaret seating will be featured at the Elks Club, with drinks served before the performance and during intermission. Patrons 20 and under must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

"Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill" takes place in a Philadelphia dive bar on the evening of one of her final performances in March of 1959, four months before she died of liver and heart failure from alcohol and drug addiction.

Director Sue Wilder, who was production manager for the play's 1987 premier at the Vineyard Theatre in New York, said she likes to think Holiday might have been inspired by a New York journalist's acclaimed reading of passages from her autobiography during a 1956 concert at Carnegie Hall. The script imagines how that might have played out in a seedy nightclub.

"This is not a re-enactment of a specific performance she performed," Wilder said. "Basically, she is telling us her life story in between the songs."

Like the play itself, Lee's vocals will be more interpretive than true to life.

"We're trying not to do a dead-on impersonation," Wilder said. "That's my choice because I think the one thing everybody can agree on is Billie Holiday is unique. Everybody's been trying to imitate her for decades, and they haven't been able to do it."

Lee approached Wilder about "Lady Day" when they were working together on "Noises Off" and is hoping to continue performing it elsewhere, including her hometown of Houston, the director said.

Wilder said Lee shares some of Holiday's distinct personality traits.

"One of the things that in my reading and research of Billie Holiday was she was a unique combination of naive little girl and street tough with the language of a sailor," Wilder said. "She knocked you on your ass as fast as the guy standing next to you. I think Ericka has that as well. There are times when Ericka is just a hoot and giggly and feminine, but also times when she's sassy and tough."

One of the challenges for Lee has been learning some of Holiday's singing styles.

"(Holiday) has a tendency to drop off at the end of phrases," Wilder said. "It also depends on where in life you heard her. She doesn't necessarily sing each note independently, clearly and uniquely. She slides her way through notes.

"She was also famous for singing behind the beat. At some points in her career some musicians said 'I don't know if she's going to catch up,' but she always did."

The other performer in the two-person production is Holiday's pianist, played by longtime Perseverance stalwart and recording artist Rory Stitt. His often offbeat albums have earned national acclaim, but tackling "Lady Day" meant stepping into new territory.