The Life explores the colorful world of the Times Square area a generation ago, in the pre-AIDS year of 1980, focusing on the lives and loves of the prostitutes, pimps and hustlers who worked 42nd Street. The show opened at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theater on April 26, 1997 and was nominated for nine Drama Desk Awards.

Tony nominations for The Life included Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (Pamela Isaacs), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Lillias White), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (both Chuck Cooper and Sam Harris), Best Director of a Musical, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations. The Tony Awards were presented June 1, 1997.

The show is based on an idea by Ira Gasman, who wrote the lyrics and collaborated on the book with David Newman and composer Cy Coleman. Coleman is one of Broadway's most enduring composers, a Tony winner for his scores for On the Twentieth Century, The Will Rogers Follies and City of Angels. He is also the composer of the musicals Wildcat, Little Me, Sweet Charity, Seesaw, I Love My Wife and Barnum.

Directed by Michael Blakemore and choreographed by Joey McKneely, The Life features in its cast Pamela Isaacs, Lillias White, and Sam Harris, all of whom were nominated for Drama Desk Awards for their performances. White was named Best Featured Actress in Musical by the Outer Critics Circle. The recording is produced by seven-time Grammy Award winner Mike Berniker, and includes such show-stopping musical numbers as "The Oldest Profession" and "My Friend".