Cafe Society Swing

Tells the true story of the first racially integrated jazz club in New York - Cafe Society, which opened in December 1938.

Image: Theatre Royal (Stratford East)

Overview

Genre: Play with music

Venue: Theatre Royal (Stratford East)

Started: Tuesday 5 June 2018

Closed: Saturday 16 June 2018

Running time:2 hrs 10 mins

Age suitability: Suitable for all ages

Synopsis

This acclaimed show tells the true story of the first racially integrated jazz club in New York - Cafe Society, which opened in December 1938.

One of the first American venues to treat the great black artists of the era with dignity and respect, the club was the launch pad for Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan and many others.

Full of swinging jazz, blues, gospel and bebop, the show follows the venue's thrilling struggles and triumphs to its eventual demise in America's 'Red Scare' of the late 1940s.

Billie Holiday was one of the first headliners at the club and it was at Cafe Society that club owner Barney Josephson presented her with the classic protest lyric Strange Fruit - which became her signature song.