Tobacco heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke, late in her life, paid the bail of Imelda Marcos, the kleptocratic first lady of the Philippines, who was being detained in Manhattan, and nobody is quite sure why. This opera imagines a supernatural meeting between Doris and Imelda, at Shangri-La, Doris's Hawaiian estate, in search of an answer.

 

Shangri-La was developed as part of the Duke House Operas, a presentation of NYU Tisch and the American Opera Project.