The Lady of The Camellias - Stage Performances

Stage Performances

Since its debut as a play, numerous editions have been performed at theatres around the world. The role of the tragic "Marguerite Gautier" became one of the most coveted amongst actresses and included performances by Lillian Gish, Eleonora Duse, Margaret Anglin, Gabrielle Réjane, Tallulah Bankhead, Eva Le Gallienne, Isabelle Adjani, Cacilda Becker, and especially Sarah Bernhardt, who starred in Paris, London, and several Broadway revivals, plus a 1911 film. Dancer/Impressario Ida Rubinstein successfully recreated Bernhardt's interpretation of the role onstage in the mid-1920s, coached by the great actress herself before she died.

Of all Dumas, fils's theatrical works, La Dame aux Camélias is the most popular around the world: According to 19th century book The Century, "not one other play by has been received with favor out of France".

It is also the inspiration for the 2008 musical Marguerite, which places the story in 1944 German-occupied France.

In the large arena of adaptations, spin-offs and parodies, special mention goes to "Camille," "a travesty on La Dame aux Camelias" by the erudite Charles Ludlam, staged first by his own Ridiculous Theatrical Company in 1973, with Ludlam playing the lead in drag, moving his audiences alternately to laughter and tears.

In 1999 Internationally known singer, Alexia Vassiliou collaborated with composer and musician Aristides Mytaras who composed the original music for the contemporary dance performance, The Lady of the Camellias. The adaptation was choreographed and directed by Constantinos Rigos, with lyrics by Marilena Panayiotopoulou, and visual production by Filippos Koutsaftis, and performed at the Amore Theatre in Athens.