INTIMATE APPAREL

Set in turn of the century New York, Intimate Apparel: A New Opera tells the story of Esther (Kearstin Piper Brown), a lonely, single African American woman who makes her living sewing corsets and ladies’ undergarments. Seeking love and romance, Esther’s warm affection with an Orthodox Jewish fabric seller is socially taboo, but she embarks on a letter-writing relationship with a mysterious suitor laboring on the Panama Canal, eventually realizing that only her self-reliance will see her through life’s challenges.

Featuring a libretto by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage based on her play and music by Ricky Ian Gordon, the opera is directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher.