Professor of Playwriting and two-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage will premiere her new musical adaptation of Fannie Hurst’s novel Imitation of Life this fall at The Shed. In addition to a book written by Nottage, the piece will include music and lyrics by Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter John Legend. The production will be directed by Tony Award-nominee Liesl Tommy.
The Hurst novel on which the musical is based was originally published in 1933 and follows two single moms—one Black, the other white—and their daughters as they build a successful pancake business together in a society rife with racial division. Imitation of Life was inspired by a series of road trips Hurst took in 1931 with fellow writer, anthropologist, and Barnard College alum Zora Neale Hurston. The musical adaptation honors its textual origins to tell a story of identity, the American dream, and what’s left for future generations.
Lynn Nottage is a playwright and screenplay writer, and the first and only woman in history to receive two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. She is one of the most produced playwrights of her generation, with work staged nationally and internationally. Her most 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, which was a Finalist for the 2025 International Opera Awards. Nottage’s other works include Clyde’s (Tony Nomination), MJ the Musical (Tony Nomination), Intimate Apparel the Opera (Drama Desk Nomination), Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), and Ruined. Nottage serves as an artist-in-residence at the Park Avenue Armory and is the co-founder of the production company Market Road Films. She’s developed original projects for HBO, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, and Showtime, and served as a writer and producer on the Netflix adaptation of Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It. Nottage's most recent honors include: Induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, and The MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship. She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Read more about Imitation of Life here.
