The Thursday, March 3, and the Saturday evening, March 5, performances of LCT’s acclaimed production of the new opera Intimate Apparel, will be recorded for future broadcast by Great Performances – on PBS as part of #PBSForTheArts – a multiplatform campaign that celebrates the arts in America.
Intimate Apparel, with music by Ricky Ian Gordon, a libretto by Lynn Nottage, based on her play, and direction by Bartlett Sher, was developed by Lincoln Center Theater and the Metropolitan Opera as part of the Met/LCT New Works Program, a co-venture between the two institutions which is dedicated to developing new opera and music theater works. The broadcast version of Intimate Apparel is a production of Lincoln Center Theater and the Metropolitan Opera in association with The WNET Group.
Set in turn of the century New York, Intimate Apparel tells the story of Esther (Kearstin Piper Brown), a lonely, single African-American woman who makes her living sewing beautiful corsets and ladies’ undergarments. Seeking love and romance, Esther embarks on a letter writing relationship with a mysterious suitor laboring on the Panama Canal and comes to realize that only her self-reliance and certainty of her own worth will see her through life’s challenges.
Great Performances is produced by the WNET Group. Bill O’Donnell is a series producer and David Horn is executive producer. Gary Halvorsen will direct.
