Thoughts on Charles Ludlam's Camille (starring Charles Busch)

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before how much I adore Charles Busch - I try to see all of the plays he writes and I try to see all of the plays in which he performs.  It's genius when he stars in his own plays, but I also love seeing him tackle other roles.  One of the highlights of my New York life was seeing him in the title role of Auntie Mame opposite the brilliant perfection of Marian Seldes as Vera Charles.  When I saw a blurb on Facebook, of all places, that Charles would be taking on Camille as imagined by the genius Charles Ludlam, I was in.

Presented by Red Bull Theater, Camille was one of their Revelation Readings where they 'share great classic stories...to bring diverse plays of heightened language...'  I was happy to see their production of The Mystery of Irma Vep last year, so I knew they'd do Ludlam and his Ridiculous Theatrical Company proud with Camille.  To ensure the right balance of style and emotion, Ridiculous Theatrical Company member Everett Quinton directed the reading and took on his old role of Nanine, the maid (and was spectacularly funny throughout).

I got to the theater a little early and was happy to run into two handsome friends outside the theater - it was nice to chat for a few too-brief minutes.  Once inside the packed Lucille Lortel Theatre, I was thrilled to see so many other familiar names on the cast list, most especially my longtime crush, Rocco Sisto, who I just never see enough.



from Red Bull Theater's Facebook page

Of course the reading was riotous great fun.  The audience was ready to have a grand time and so, I think, was the cast.  Charles Busch was a magnificent Margeurite, witty and charming, with a fatal sadness underneath.  There were a few of his famous comic touches, naturally, but there was also a lot of pathos in his performance as the dying courtesan.  His scenes with his young lover's father were especially touching, I thought.  But everyone in the cast was fantastic, as I knew they would be.  I know the story of Camille, from film, ballet and opera, but had never seen a stage play version before.  This gender-bending version was very successful, I thought, in finding the right tone throughout - both the camp qualities and the very serious 'heartbreaking' qualities were mined beautifully.  I also (as usual) loved spotting all of the classic film, cultural and literary references throughout the script.  I think they all really did an expert job for only having one day of rehearsal!  

I found this out because I stayed after the reading for a "Bull Session" (as described in the program).  A gentleman very familiar with Ludlam's work, Marvin Carlson, was there and spoke briefly about how he compares Ludlam to Moliere in that they both ran a company, wrote the plays, directed and starred in them.  There aren't many people who do that, either then or now.  After Carlson talked for a few minutes, Charles, Everett and another cast member came out as well.  Then the questions from the audience really picked up.  Charles spoke very movingly of having seen Ludlam play Margeurite and how that performance really sparked his  theatrical imagination.  He also felt as if he could hear some of Ludlam's line readings in his own performance as Margeurite.  Everett spoke charmingly about what it was like to be in the Ridiculous Theatrical Company and what it was like to perform in Camille, then and now.  He got choked up when talking about Ludlam and how hard it was to keep the company going on shoestring budgets.  There were several people in the audience who had also seen Ludlam perform Camille and it was fun to hear them stand up and share their experiences.  Charles also spoke beautifully about what it is in Garbo's performance of Camille that so moves him, and also about how comedy is ephemeral and hard to describe.  It was a lovely talkback and I'm ever so glad I stayed.

I wish I could remember all of the delicious lines that made me either howl with laughter or ruefully smile with feeling.  I think I need to dig out my Ludlam anthology and take another look at the Camille script.  I did a reading once of Caprice, which was a riot, and I'm a big fan of Ludlam's writing.  I only wish I could've seen him star in one of his own plays; I'm sure I would've adored him as much as I do Charles Busch.  I hope hope hope more performances of Camille are on the horizon.  I would love to check it out again and I can see it making a lot of people happy for a long time.  But I'm ever so grateful I was there last night, watching magic on stage and feeling theatrical warmth all around.  It made a chilly night much warmer...