MainStage Irving-Las Colinas presents Intimate Apparel

by Lynn Nottage

Director Dennis Raveneau

Cast

Stormi Demerson

Brentom Jackson

Kayland Jordan

Lindsay Hayward

Yolanda Davis

Shaundra Norwood

Asst Director Kathi Baker

Administrative Producer Joan Eppes

Technical Producer Tom Ortiz

Intimacy Director La Hunter-Smith

Stage Mgr/Props Designer Rayven Harris

Scenic Designer Ellen Doyle Mizener

Lighting Designer Hank Baldree

Costume Designer Michael A Robinson/Dallas Costume Shoppe

Wig Designer Matthew Rafanelli

Pianist/Composer Thiago Nascimento

Sound Designer Rich Frohlich

Master Carpenter Conor Clark

Set Dresser Joseph Cummings

My thoughts on Intimate Apparel or…threads common and uncommon in Esther’s life quilt

Esther Mills is a skilled 35-year-old African Amercian seamstress living in a boarding house in New York City in 1905. It is Esther’s finesse with a needle and thread, especially sewing lingerie and corsets, that gives her more independence, both social and financial, than most Black women of the era. Her services are in demand, and she has clients from the well to do of NYC society to the prostitutes of the Tenderloin district. This gives her varying degrees of intimacy across the social strata.

Although she makes her income from her sewing skills, Esther’s ultimate dream is to open a beauty parlor where Black women can be pampered like their white counterparts. Toward that goal, she has been stitching her savings into a quilt for 18 years.

In Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel all of the characters are looking to connect and all of them are drawn to Esther (Stormi Demerson). There’s her gregarious landlady Mrs. Dickson (Yolanda Davis), the Jewish cloth merchant Mr. Marks (Blair Mitchell), her wealthy client Mrs. Van Buren (Lindsay Hayward), her friend the musically talented Mayme (Kayland Jordan) who relies on prostitution to survive, and her suitor George Armstrong (Brentom Jackson), a Barbadian immigrant with whom she corresponds and eventually marries.

Director Dennis Raveneau has assembled a wonderful creative team and cast for Intimate Apparel. The handsome set designed by Ellen Doyle Mizener is divided into four areas. The fabric shop and Mrs. Van Buren’s boudoir are elevated upstage while Mayme’s and Esther’s rooms are downstage. The transitions between scenes are highlighted by the melodic piano music of Thiago Nascimento and the lighting of Hank Baldree, who lights the entire production superbly. Michael A. Robinson’s costumes meet all the requirements from provocative corsets and bloomers to the conservative clothing of an Orthodox Jew. Matthew Rafanelli’s wigs were so natural looking that I was genuinely shocked to see the actors without them after the show.

There are excellent performances here from the entire cast. I admired Blair Mitchell’s Mr. Marks. He captured the awkward situation of the character who finds himself attracted to a woman both outside his race and his religion. Mitchell’s eyes flashed the character’s undeniable attraction to Esther, while his body movements showed his hesitancy and restraint. It’s an understated, entirely convincing performance.

Lindsay Hayward as the wealthy socialite Mrs. Van Buren successfully portrays the character ’s frustration with her life. She is bored by her social obligations and the people with whom she must associate and enjoys an easy camaraderie with Esther with whom she confides her unhappiness with her situation in life and her husband. Hayward brings a playful quality to Mrs. Van Buren but can adeptly turn the playfulness into pathos when explaining why she is yet to have offspring. Hayward and Demerson have a terrific final scene together where true feelings and a secret passion are exposed.

Kayland Jordan is irresistible as Esther’s friend Mayme. Mayme is another character who is not pleased with her lot in life. She is an accomplished composer and pianist who must support herself through prostitution. “All the pawing and pulling. For a dollar they think they own you,” she laments. Jordan clearly shows her character’s strengths and has a tremendous rapport with Demerson’s Esther. They are friends but seem almost like sisters who have chosen or been forced on to different paths and their friendship survives a surprising and extremely hurtful turn of events.

Yolanda Davis brings both wisdom and a little sass to Esther’s widowed landlady and friend Mrs. Dickson. She is a mother figure to Esther and treats her with respect but doesn’t shy away from telling Esther her beliefs about men and sex. Davis, who has a very appealing stage presence, gives Mrs. Dickson a loving, kind demeanor. Davis also gets to showcase her fine acting skills in an outstanding monologue where she reveals her character’s parentage and upbringing.

I was more than impressed with Brentom Jackson as Esther’s love interest George Armstrong. Jackson is blessed with an incredible, commanding voice and charisma to match. He has mastered George’s Barbadian accent and his solo scenes reciting his letters to and from Esther during their epistolary romance are almost like listening to music. George is a complex character and Jackson’s strong skills make George’s trajectory from a hopeful laborer in Panama to a less than admirable philandering husband believable and effective.

Stormi Demerson simply is Esther Mills. Demerson gives Esther a quiet dignity that endears the character to the audience from the beginning. Esther is a virtuous woman with the drive to realize her dream by means of hard work and Demerson embodies the character totally as Esther befriends and interacts with people on different levels of society. Demerson is an accomplished actor who has played the role of Esther previously and she has gotten to the very soul of the character. Demerson’s Esther is a flawed, human, and unforgettable character.

Director Raveneau creates beautiful tableaus in Intimate Apparel and the settings enhanced by Hank Baldree’s lighting are often as vivid as paintings. Raveneau gives Act I a gentle, caring spirit and the last moment of the act is stunning as we see all characters going about their daily lives while Esther weds George. In Act II Raveneau skillfully lifts the facade of each character and the drama becomes more intense. Raveneau knows how to tell a stage story and honors Nottage’s script.

I am a Lynn Nottage fan and her play Sweat is my favorite drama. Intimate Apparel, while nowhere near as intense as Sweat, is just as satisfying in its own right. As in most of her plays, Nottage is delivering a message. Intimate Apparel addresses racism, classism, and most notably the treatment of women. Nottage’s messages are never heavy handed as they are presented through relatable human relationships. Human relationships are at the forefront of Intimate Apparel and Director Raveneau’s ensemble of gifted actors make Esther’s journey an engrossing and satisfying evening of theater.