Camille Claudel
Book & Lyrics by Nan Knighton | Music by Frank Wildhorn
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a family-friendly comic swashbuckler. Based on Baroness Orczy's classic novel of the same title, the show takes place during the French Revolution. Sir Percy Blakeney, a daring English nobleman, rescues innocents from the Reign of Terror while playing the part of an inane fop at home in order to mask his covert activities. Complicating matters are the relentless Citizen Chauvelin and Percy's own French wife, Marguerite, who he fears he cannot trust.
About the Show
Camille Claudel was a woman who broke all the rules. She was a sculptor in the late 1800's-early 1900's. This was a time when women did not sculpt. If they did, it was merely a hobby preceding marriage. No woman sculptor of this period achieved fame - except for Camille. One critic described her as "a revolt against nature - a woman of genius!" Camille had the courage and drive of ten men. She was feisty, funny, beautiful, and the musical reflects her humor and zest. Her life revolved around two things: her work and her stormy love affair with Auguste Rodin, arguably the most important sculptor of the modern era. Camille first met Rodin as his pupil. She quickly became his assistant, then his model, mistress, muse, and ultimately the one great passion of his life. As these two sculptors worked and competed side by side, their affair was obsessive, wild and unpredictable, all of which lends itself beautifully to music. Although the backbone of the musical is biographical, the story is anchored in 1913 at a most unusual turning point in Camille's life.
Upcoming
The updated production of Camille Claudel will make its world premiere at D.C.'s Signature Theatre in their 2020-21 season, starring Teal Wicks as Camille Claudel.
More info can be found at Signature Theatre's website.