HELP BRING INVISIBLE LIFE: THE MUSICAL TO THE HOWARD THEATRE

Support the $350,000 campaign for the World Premiere of a reimagined Behind the Mask:  Invisible Life — The Musical, based on E. Lynn Harris’s groundbreaking novel, Invisible Life.  Harris’s groundbreaking work helped bring the phrase “on the down low” (DL), and the hidden lives it described, into the mainstream cultural conversation. 

This November, help bring this landmark story to the stage for a new generation. Your support will help ensure its powerful themes of identity, truth, love, visibility, and resilience continue to be seen, heard, and discussed.

Support the World Premiere

Your contribution supports Invisible Life: The Musical through ABOVE THE LINE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC, a 501(c)(3). Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Donors will receive the appropriate acknowledgment for their contribution. 

WHY NOW?

At a moment when arts and cultural funding faces increasing pressure — and when Black and LGBTQ+ histories can too easily be marginalized, simplified, or forgotten — bringing Invisible Life back into public life matters deeply. 

E. Lynn Harris gave generations of readers language for love, identity, secrecy, truth, community, and self-acceptance. Those conversations remain just as
urgent today. 

The HIV/AIDS story extends far beyond the LGBTQ+ community. Black women remain disproportionately affected — in 2023, they accounted for approximately half of HIV diagnoses among women in the United States. Bringing Invisible Life back into public conversation gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the women, families, and communities whose lives have also been shaped by HIV/AIDS, and to make space for their experiences within this continuing story. 

This World Premiere is an opportunity to carry Harris’s legacy forward. By bringing Invisible Life to the stage at the Howard Theatre, we can introduce a new generation to Harris’s groundbreaking work. We can create space for Black LGBTQ+ audiences to see themselves reflected with complexity, dignity, and pride. We can continue vital conversations about HIV/AIDS awareness, living positively, identity, belonging, and the experiences of women, families, and communities affected by the epidemic. Use storytelling and education to preserve histories and experiences that deserve to be remembered. 

The more openly these stories are shared, the more powerfully future generations understand where we’ve been — and imagine where we can go. 

What Your Gift Makes Possible? 

Your contribution helps support: 

● ​ Actors, Musicians, Dancers, Creative professionals bringing Invisible Life to life. 

● ​Howard Theatre Production Costs  

● ​Sets, Costumes & Technical Elements  

● ​Marketing & Audience Development — Helping us reach fans of E. Lynn Harris and a new generation discovering Invisible Life. 

● Community Engagement & Education — Supporting opportunities to use the production as a catalyst for conversation around identity, Black LGBTQ+ history, HIV/AIDS awareness, PrEP education and visibility, prevention, and the enduring legacy of E. Lynn Harris.