The Editorial Staff of THE VOICE is very excited about the upcoming Frank
Wildhorn / Nan Knighton project being readied for Broadway starring Linda.
THE VOICE will introduce the fans to Camille Claudel and give them some perspective
on this new musical through the eyes of Linda, Frank, and Nan.
Yolie Shannon has researched the life of Camille Claudel and has graciously agreed to share the knowledge she has gained through her reading.
Camille Claudel (1864-1943) was a French sculptor who received most of her attention for the fifteen year tumultuous relationship she had with her teacher, mentor, and lover, the eminent 19th century sculptor, Auguste Rodin, than she did for her talent as a sculptor. At age nineteen, Camille became involved with the renowned forty-three year old French sculptor, Rodin. He realized her enormous talent and invited her to become his studio assistant. Claudel was astute to the fact that being a female in the male dominated world of sculpting, she would never be accepted in her own right for her talent, so she accepted Rodin's offer. She was living in a time when women were not accepted or expected to do anything but subservient duties. The years she worked by Rodin's side are said to be his most productive; and for Claudel they were both the most instructive and perhaps the most destructive in establishing a career independent of Rodin. Their years together would leave an indelible influence on her techniques and subject matter. Claudel's assistance in Rodin's studio helped insure his myth of superhuman productivity during the 1880's and early 1890's. Claudel and Rodin ended their relationship in 1898. Distraught, financially broke, and showing signs of mental illness after their breakup, Claudel destroyed most of her own work. Tragically, she was committed to a mental hospital in 1913 by her family and remained there until her death at age seventy-nine.
What a story for a Broadway musical! Can't you just imagine and hear the great music Frank has written for this storyline!
Linda is busy preparing to take the story of this amazing woman to Broadway. We caught up with her recently, and she had this to say about her latest project: "CAMILLE CLAUDEL is doing great. Nan is continuously tweaking what is already a great script. The score is wonderful and everyone is extremely excited about it. For better or worse, it looks like I'm headed back to Broadway."
Frank is so enthusiastic about his latest project. He had this to share with the fans: "Camille Claudel's life has all the stuff that theatre is made of-- heightened triumph, failures, romance, etc...she was a woman so far ahead of her own time in every way-from her talent to her career ambitions to the way she saw herself in society. It is a story of great passion-passion for one's work and for one's love. For me, it's the stuff I love to write and of course writing it for Linda makes this project the best of all worlds."
Nan Knighton has graciously given us her perspective on the character she has worked so hard to develop for this musical. "CAMILLE CLAUDEL is a musical about a woman who broke all the rules. In the late 19th century, women did not become sculptors. They certainly did not sculpt nudity and sexuality, and God knows they didn't live alone, smoke and drink, and have scandalous love affairs with world-famous artists like Auguste Rodin. No woman would dare defy society like that-except Camille. As one critic of the time put it, she was 'revolt against nature, a woman of genius.' Her life was a fascinating and spirited struggle, and in the end she opened the door for all women artists who followed. Because Rodin was Camille's teacher and lover, people always assumed that her work was merely an imitation of his. Nothing could be further from the truth, and Rodin himself said, 'I showed her where to find the gold, but the gold she found was truly her own.' Her life was an amazing struggle, but she always knew that once she touched the gold."
We will keep you
informed of the progress of CAMILLE CLAUDEL in upcoming issues of THE VOICE.
For further information go to AOL keyword: Camille Claudel. You can find more
than 20,600 websites in various languages.
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