Monday, March 18, 2013

IndieWire.com: Sergio Mims in 'Shadow & Act': "Lynn Nottage Is Adapting 'Intimate Apparel' As An Opera For The Met"


Viola Davis in Intimate Apparel, a new play by Lynn Nottage

Lynn Nottage

Sergio Mims sends this link:


Shadow & Act
Tambay A. Obenson
March 17, 2013
Pulitzer playwright Lynn Nottage is writing an opera for the Met with composer Ricky Ian Gordon . Cool.@Lynnbrooklyn @publicdoves @MetOpera
Walked into my apartment a little bit ago, and just as I turned on my laptop, the above tweet (a retweet by Lynn Nottage) popped up on the bottom-right of my screen. Thank goodness for that, because, a second later, and I would've missed it!

Needless to say, I did some research, and came across a press release on The Metropolitan Opera's website, dated February 26 (we obviously missed the initial announcement a few weeks ago). But yes, per the press release, Ms Nottage is indeed working on an adaptation of her critically-acclaimed play, Intimate Apparel, as an opera for the Met, with multiple award-winning composer Ricky Ian Gordon, who has composed several operas and had his music performed by the likes of S&A favorite, Audra McDonald, and many others. 

Intimate Apparel follows an African American seamstress in turn of the century New York, in pursuit of a better life, through a letter-writing relationship with a laborer working on the Panama Canal, and through her interactions with a cross section of New York City.

The play had its world premiere at Center Stage in February 2003, eventually making its New York debut off-Broadway, running from March to June, 2004, with a cast that was led by Viola Davis, in a performance that won her a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play.

The play won the 2004 Steinberg New Play Award, presented by The American Theatre Critics Association. The award recognizes playwrights for the best scripts that premiered professionally outside New York City in any given year.

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