Jessica Vosk, Michael Luwoye, Charlie Thurston and Aleyse Shannon will play opposite Adrienne Warren in Imitation of Life, the new musical by Lynn Nottage and John Legend that begins performances at The Griffin Theater at The Shed on November 21.
The producers of Imitation of Life named the principal cast, the design team and the remaining creative credits on Monday. Tony Award winner Adrienne Warren was announced earlier as Delilah.
Jessica Vosk plays Bea. Michael Luwoye plays Elroy. Charlie Thurston plays Archie. Aleyse Shannon is Adult Peola, Scarlett London Diviney is Young Peola and Lily Gilliam is Young Jessie. Further casting follows later.
Performances begin Saturday, November 21, 2026. Opening night is Thursday, December 3. The strictly limited six-week engagement ends Sunday, January 3, 2027. The production is at The Griffin Theater at The Shed, in a co-production with National Black Theatre, and tickets are on sale now at theshed.org.
The design team is set. Chloe Lamford designs the set, Qween Jean the costumes, Natasha Katz the lighting and Gareth Owen the sound. Baye & Asa choreograph. Brandon Michael Nase is music supervisor and Ben Covello music director, with co-orchestrations by Bryan Carter and Charlie Rosen. Casting is by The Telsey Company. Whitney White directs.
Vosk originated Cee Cee in Beaches on Broadway, played Jersey in Hell’s Kitchen and spent two years as Elphaba in Wicked, on tour and then on Broadway. Luwoye played the title role in Hamilton and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Invisible Thread at Second Stage. Thurston originated Bill in Liberation, which won the Tony Award for Best New Play.
Shannon can currently be seen in The Drop: A Snowfall Saga and starred in The New Group’s The Seagull/Woodstock, NY. Diviney played the role of Young Peola through the show’s development workshops, and has appeared in The Lion King national tour and at the Metropolitan Opera in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. Gilliam makes an Off-Broadway debut.
Nottage has written the book and Legend the original score. The musical draws on Fannie Hurst’s 1933 novel and the two Universal films it produced — John Stahl’s 1934 version, which is in the National Film Registry, and Douglas Sirk’s 1959 version. The story follows two single mothers, one Black and one white, and their daughters, across 1920s Atlantic City and 1930s New York.
Qween Jean became the first openly transgender person to win a Tony Award in 2026, for her costume design for Cats: The Jellicle Ball. Katz has 20 Tony nominations and eight wins, the most recent for Sweeney Todd in 2023. Owen won the Tony for MJ: The Musical. Lamford’s Broadway credits include Death of a Salesman and Hillary and Clinton.
National Black Theatre, Universal Theatrical Group, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Get Lifted Film Co., Crocodile Eyes, LD Entertainment and The Shed produce.
