Philly Fringe 2026: Stephanie Scott presents With Love, From Ella

Humble beginnings

In the first scene, we meet the 17-year-old Fitzgerald, an orphan, dancing in a dilapidated room. Nervous but determined, she plans to enter the legendary Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night competition as a dancer. Seeing the woman who would eventually become “The First Lady of Song” clumsily navigate choreography is both ironic and endearing. Next up, Fitzgerald is waiting backstage to perform at the Harlem venue, and other competitors mistake her for the janitor due to her modest dress. This slight is compounded by her anxiety after watching the Edwards Sisters dazzle the audience with their dance number. Panic-stricken, Fitzgerald scraps the footwork she initially planned and decides at the last minute to sing “Judy” by Hoagy Carmichael, completely changing the trajectory of her life.

A humanizing portrayal

The audience travels with Fitzgerald as she navigates the highs and lows of the music industry during a career that spanned much of the 20th century. During a more poignant scene in her dressing room, Fitzgerald’s insecurities are revealed after reading a shattering review comparing her looks and body to another legendary jazz singer, Billie Holiday. The review culminates with the suggestion that she “lose a few pounds.” Near tears, Fitzgerald frantically grabs a jump rope and launches into a workout, all in a futile effort to slim down right before a performance. The moment tenderly humanizes Fitzgerald, laying bare the relatable vulnerabilities of a music icon.

Despite her personal anxieties, the show also captures Fitzgerald’s professional accolades, including a triumphant performance at Carnegie Hall during the Jim Crow era, her history-making Grammy win in 1958, and taking home the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George H.W. Bush. Fitzgerald was unable to receive the latter award in person due to her deteriorating health at the time.

A stage of her own

Carrying the production entirely on her shoulders, Scott completely captures both the commanding presence and raw vulnerabilities of Fitzgerald. Instead of offering a run-of-the-mill impersonation, Scott’s portrayal is a deeply human portrait of fame, fragility, and resilience. In one of the more profound scenes, Scott brilliantly highlights the indignity and degradation Fitzgerald faced as a Black performer in Jim Crow America during an exchange with fellow jazz legend Louis Armstrong. Here, her voice cracks and hands tremble in a way that feels entirely unscripted and real when she remembers being forced to enter through the service door prior to a Carnegie Hall performance.

Rather than relying on the fast-paced character switching typical of many solo performances, Scott completely embodies Fitzgerald for the duration of the 90-minute show, which she also codirects with Tonya Belton. The multitude of personalities Fitzgerald interacts with throughout her life, including husband Ray Brown and collaborators like bandleader Chick Webb and Armstrong, remain invisible. Scott shines as Fitzgerald, injecting her side of the conversation with so much active listening and subtext it’s easy for audiences to grasp the responses of her phantom scene partners.

With Fitzgerald’s music gracefully aiding scene transitions (guided by Oscar Payne) and screen projections (by Teyanna Stone) skillfully helping to evoke the shifting time and space landscape of Fitzgerald’s life, With Love, From Ella proves the icon's spirit never truly left the stage.

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