Nobody, No Time by ILLUSION Mellon Playwright in Residence, Carlyle Brown, is inspired by the life of Bert Williams, the famous and popular Vaudeville Negro entertainer. He was the headliner in the Ziegfeld Follies and at the beginning of the twentieth century he was one of the top recording artists in the world. He performed in black face and built his career and legacy on the exploitation of Negro stereotypes. W.C. Fields called him the funniest and the saddest man he ever knew.

Nobody, No Time is a new play with music that looks inside the most talented, complex and conflicted figure of the Vaudeville era. As the Mellon Playwright in Residence, Carlyle has been a part of Illusion's leadership team since 2020. Nobody, No Time will be the fourth play Carlyle has written since he began his Mellon residence with Illusion.