NEON Nostalgia Night - IMITATION OF LIFE
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Our final "NEON Nostalgia Night" of 2026 is set for Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 (live music and a themed cocktail will be available in our lobby starting at 6:30)...and we thought it was about time to bring some Douglas Sirk to our screens with the beloved classic IMITATION OF LIFE. Tickets are $12.50 each.
"Douglas Sirk’s final Hollywood film—and perhaps his crowning achievement—is one of the all-time great weepies and a damning critique of racial and class division in America. It’s the dual story of Lora Meredith (Lana Turner), an aspiring actress, and Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore), the African-American single mother she hires as her live-in maid. As Lora’s career ascends, Annie is pushed aside by her light-skinned daughter, Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner), who chooses to pass as white. Throughout, Sirk brilliantly manipulates the story’s artifice, emphasizing the obliviousness of the white characters to their privilege and imbuing the Annie–Sarah Jane relationship with a wrenching pathos. It all crescendos with a soul-shaking musical performance from Mahalia Jackson and the gale-force emotional annihilation of Sirk’s most devastating climax." (Film at Lincoln Center synopsis)
Special thanks to our sponsor - Brian Sharp of SharpGroup Berkshire Hathaway Professional Home Realty!
"Douglas Sirk’s final Hollywood film—and perhaps his crowning achievement—is one of the all-time great weepies and a damning critique of racial and class division in America. It’s the dual story of Lora Meredith (Lana Turner), an aspiring actress, and Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore), the African-American single mother she hires as her live-in maid. As Lora’s career ascends, Annie is pushed aside by her light-skinned daughter, Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner), who chooses to pass as white. Throughout, Sirk brilliantly manipulates the story’s artifice, emphasizing the obliviousness of the white characters to their privilege and imbuing the Annie–Sarah Jane relationship with a wrenching pathos. It all crescendos with a soul-shaking musical performance from Mahalia Jackson and the gale-force emotional annihilation of Sirk’s most devastating climax." (Film at Lincoln Center synopsis)
Special thanks to our sponsor - Brian Sharp of SharpGroup Berkshire Hathaway Professional Home Realty!
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Where is it happening?
130 E 5th St, Dayton, OH, United States, Ohio 45402
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherThe NEON
