Broadway and Beyond: Starring in off-Broadway opera "Intimate Apparel" is a childhood dream come true for Justin Austin
NEW YORK -- The star of the off-Broadway opera "Intimate Apparel" is wowing audiences at Lincoln Center with his rich voice.
Justin Austin tells CBS2's Dave Carlin his role is a childhood dream come true.
"When I was a little kid and most people wanted to be a fireman or whatever, I wanted to be an opera singer," the 31-year-old baritone said.
"Intimate Apparel" features music by Ricky Ian Gorden, direction by Bartlett Sherr and a libretto by Lynn Nottage, adapting her stage play.
"Something like 'Intimate Apparel' is amazing because we have an opportunity to feature artists of color, to feature artists that are not of color on the same stage," Austin said.
The setting is New York City in 1905. Austin's character, George, romances a seamstress named Esther. This love-gone-wrong saga is cozy and grand.
"I think we should celebrate the different colors and the different experiences and the different cultures," Austin said.
So what's next for Austin? After "Intimate Apparel" closes, he starts preparing for his debut at the Metropolitan Opera House.
"My last two debuts were canceled because of COVID, but I'm happy to be finally having an opportunity to stand on that stage, sing on that stage. It's something, probably the only thing that my parents ever wanted, and it didn't happen for whatever reason," he said.
Austin's parents, both professional opera singers, learned about their son early on that he could not be talked out of this career.
"My parents, they actually didn't want me to be an opera singer. They knew about the struggles and how hard it was," Austin said. "I was a boy soprano, and I traveled the world doing operas."
Austin says he worked until he was about 12 or 13, when his voice changed.
"It actually changed in the middle of a performance ... At the end of that duet, it was two tenors," he said, laughing. "That's actually why I moved to New York. I joined the Boys Choir of Harlem to find a safe buffer between my voice changing and how am I going to be a manly singer when I've been used to singing as a soprano."
His voice is now rich and right where he wants it.
"The two pieces that I feel as a baritone but also a fan of baritones -- 'Don Giovanni,' absolutely, and 'Ragtime,'" Austin said. "I'm standing on the shoulders of everyone that has inspired me, encouraged me, supported me and helped me."
"Intimate Apparel" runs through March 6 at Lincoln Center's Newhouse Theater.
There are many events and productions planned at Lincoln Center this spring. For more information, visit lincolncenter.org/lincoln-center-at-home.