Whitney White Replaces Liesl Tommy as IMITATION OF LIFE Director; Production Dates Pushed Back

The new musical Imitation of Life has revealed new production dates and a new creative team member for its world premiere engagement at The Griffin Theater at The Shed, in a co-production with National Black Theatre.

Featuring a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, music and lyrics by Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner John Legend, and directed by Two-Time Tony Award nominee Whitney White, Imitation of Life will now begin performances on Saturday, November 21, 2026 in an extended for two weeks strictly limited 6-week engagement through Sunday, January 3, 2027.

National Black Theatre, John Legend and Mike Jackson of Get Lifted Film Co., Liesl Tommy and Jennifer Mudge of Crocodile Eyes, Universal Theatrical Group (UTG), Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Mickey Liddell and Pete Shilaimon of LD Entertainment and The Shed serve as producers.

Whitney White joins the creative team of Imitation of Life as a 2026 Tony Award nominee for direction of the Pulitzer Prize winning play Liberation. This season, she also helmed Saturday Church at New York Theatre Workshop and is set to direct the Broadway premiere of School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play on Broadway next season at Manhattan Theater Club. She will also direct The Whoopi Monologues at Lincoln Center Theater this summer. White previously worked with Lynn Nottage on the musical The Secret Life of Bees at the Almeida in the UK.

Tickets for Imitation of Life go on sale to the public on Friday, May 29. The Mastercard cardholder presale begins Wednesday, May 27.