From Lynn Nottage ’86, John Legend & Whitney White MFA ’15

A POWERFUL NEW MUSICAL ABOUT IDENTITY, THE AMERICAN DREAM, AND WHAT WE LEAVE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

Join us for what promises to be an exciting evening of theater at The Shed for the world premiere of Imitation of Life with book by Lynn Nottage ’86, music and lyrics by EGOT winner John Legend, and directed by Whitney White MFA ’15.

Purchase can only be made by Brown Club subscribing members and is limited to four tickets.

You are a subscribing member of the Brown Club in NY if you:
Paid to attend our Kickoff Event this past October.
OR
Paid the annual $30 membership fee within the past twelve months.
OR
Are Class of '26 or '25 and signed up for free membership.

Tickets will only be distributed by a Brown Club representative in the theater’s Doctoroff Lobby from 6:15pm to 6:45pm.

Please do NOT go to the box office and please arrive no later than 6:45pm.

Across the neon rush of 1920s Atlantic City and the harder edges of 1930s New York, two single mothers—one Black, one White—and their daughters build a life together, chasing success and love by very different rules. Their stories ask what we sacrifice to be seen—and what we pass down to the ones who come after us.

Inspired by Fannie Hurst’s best-selling 1933 novel and the landmark 1934 and 1959 Universal films, “Imitation of Life” arrives for its world premiere in this strictly limited, six-week engagement.

Lynn Nottage ’86 (Book) is a playwright and screenwriter, and the first woman in history to receive two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Among the most produced playwrights of her generation, her work has been staged extensively throughout the United States and internationally, earning Tony Award nominations, an Olivier nomination, an Evening Standard award, and numerous other awards. Her recent projects include the libretto for This House, premiered at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, co-written with Ruby Aiyo Gerber with music by Ricky Ian Gordon (Finalist for the 2025 International Opera Awards); the opera adaptation of Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater; the book for the Tony-nominated Broadway musical MJ; and Clyde’s, produced on Broadway and at Second Stage Theater. She has also co-curated immersive performance installations, including This Is Reading and The Watering Hole at Signature Theatre. Nottage’s acclaimed body of work includes Sweat and Ruined (Pulitzer Prizes), Mlima’s Tale, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, Fabulation, Crumbs From the Table of Joy, and The Secret Life of Bees. For television, she served as writer/producer on She’s Gotta Have It and consulting producer on Dickinson. Her honors include the PEN/Laura Pels Master Dramatist Award, Doris Duke Artist Award, MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, and induction into the Theater Hall of Fame. She is a professor at Columbia University School of the Arts and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

John Legend (Music & Lyrics) is an EGOT-winning, critically acclaimed, multiplatinum musician who has garnered 13 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award and three Emmy Awards, among others. Legend is one of only 22 people in the prestigious EGOT club. Legend has released 10 celebrated albums over the course of his career, including Get Lifted (2004), Once Again (2006), Evolver (2008), Wake Up! (with The Roots, 2010), Love in the Future (2013), Darkness and Light (2016), A Legendary Christmas Deluxe (2019), Bigger Love (2020), LEGEND (2022), LEGEND (Solo Piano Version) (2023), and most recently, My Favorite Dream (2024). On November 22, Legend released the 20th-anniversary digital deluxe version of his Grammy-winning debut album, Get Lifted, featuring artists including Tems, Simi, Killer Mike, and Lil Wayne. Legend kicked off his “Get Lifted 20th Anniversary World Tour” in May where he is bringing his acclaimed debut album back to the stage around the world.

Legend’s influence extends to live performance, including his recent An Evening with John Legend: A Night of Songs and Stories tour in 2024. On screen, he delivered a stunning performance as Jesus in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018), earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor and winning an Emmy as a producer for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). Legend joined THE VOICE as a coach for Season 16 (2019) and has returned for a number of seasons, most recently completing Season 27 (2025). Beyond music, Legend is a visionary producer and storyteller. Alongside partners Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius, he co-founded Get Lifted Film Co., which has created a wide range of acclaimed projects across major networks and streaming platforms. Recent highlights include the Emmy-winning HBO documentary 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed, Paramount+’s Loudmouth, and Netflix’s hit series Rhythm & Flow. Upcoming projects include NBC/Peacock’s Before I Let Go, inspired by Kennedy Ryan’s best-selling novel; The War & Treaty, based on the lives of Black country music stars Michael and Tanya Trotter; and the Broadway-bound musical Soul Train. Get Lifted’s storytelling expertise also extends to books through their publishing arm, Get Lifted Books, which amplifies diverse voices, most recently with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant’s memoir, Wild Life, and Candace Parker’s book, The Can-Do Mindset.

Whitney White MFA ’15 (Director) is an Obie and Lilly Award-winning and two-time Tony Award-nominated director, actor, and musician known for her bold and innovative approach to storytelling. Most recently, White earned a 2026 Tony Award nomination for her direction of Bess Wohl’s Liberation, making her the first Black female director nominated for two Best Direction of a Play Tony Awards. Her Broadway credits include Bess Wohl’s Liberation at the James Earl Jones Theatre, The Last Five Years at the Hudson Theatre, and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. She will next direct School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre this fall. Off-Broadway, White directed Saturday Church at New York Theatre Workshop in 2025 and wrote, composed, and starred in Macbeth in Stride at Brooklyn Academy of Music, in addition to All Is But Fantasy with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Upcoming, she is set to direct a reimagining of The Whoopi Monologues starring Kerry Washington and Kara Young, with previews beginning July 7, as well as the English-language premiere of Ellen B. by Marius von Mayenburg at Steppenwolf Theatre beginning in April 2027. Her film and television acting credits include Ocean’s Eight, Freeform’s Single Drunk Female, Fx’s Louie, and NBC’s The Playboy Club. She also wrote for Boots Riley’s I’m a Virgo for Prime Video. White received the 2026 Obie Award for Sustained Achievement in Directing for Liberation and the 2025 Drama League Founders Award for Excellence in Directing. In 2024, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding and, in 2025, for Outstanding Director at the Lucille Lortel Awards for Liberation.

Questions: Email: jh@brownnyc.org