I saw this performance on Broadway, in a nightclub-like setting to add to its verisimilitude, and it was a very impressive illusion. Audra McDonald played Billie Holiday at a fragile point in her later singing career, playing a nightclub set while fighting drug addiction and her own emotions. In that live setting, McDonald was so committed to the role that she once lunged forward off the stage unexpectedly, depending on audience members to reach out and break her fall. (On the night I was there, they did – but wow.) I haven’t seen this televised version, but I’m sure it will be equally effective – and McDonald does indeed have Holiday’s distinctive sound down pat. She won a Tony for this role, and deserved it. For a full review,
see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.