"Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill" premiered at the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia, on April 16, 1986, with direction by Woodie King Jr. and Reenie Upchurch as Billie Holiday.The play was next produced Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre on June 5, 1986, and then opened in a Vineyard Theatre production at the Westside Theatre on September 7, 1986.