American Ballet The atre’s “Lady of the Camellias” has a moving, beautifully danced final act. But you have to sit through the first two acts to get there.
John Neumeier made “Lady” for the Stuttgart Ballet in 1978, using the same story behind the 1936 Greta Garbo classic “Camille” and Verdi’s opera “La Traviata”: Marguerite, a courtesan, renounces her one true love for the sake of his family’s honor, then dies of tuberculosis.
It’s a long evening, with a lot of coughing. There’s also a lot of Chopin — three hours’ worth — played by pianists Koji Attwood and Soheil Nasseri, the unsung heroes of the evening. Jurgen Rose’s sumptuous designs evoke the elegant glamour of 19th-century Paris.
But there’s too much of a good thing. Neumeier lays on duet after duet with Marguerite and her love, Armand, but they all look alike, except when the corps comes in to add to the confusion. There are also logical gaps and some heavy-handed literary conceits. Neumeier can’t seem to hit a balance.
The cast is more surefooted. After 24 years with the company, Julie Kent is still svelte and elegant, adding subtlety to the melodrama. Her feet ripple as she drifts across the stage, and she can speak volumes with a look or a single upraised arm.
Italian Roberto Bolle is ballet’s pretty boy — in fact, he has modeled for Ferragamo and Gap. Besides being easy on the eyes, he’s a good, emotional actor. He’s also a forklift, pressing Kent over his head again and again like a human crane.
When Act 3 finally rolls around, Neumeier stops trying to put everything and the kitchen sink onstage and lets Kent and Bolle carry the ballet. Both give their all in long scenes of reconciliation and betrayal; by the end, there’s not a dry eye in the house.
There are three casts; Kent and Bolle dance tonight and June 5.