A novel · A musical · A vision
The untold true story of the woman behind Verdi's most popular opera.
The Story
A girl from Normandy. The opera the world never stopped singing
In 1853, Giuseppe Verdi premiered La Traviata at La Fenice in Venice. With over 3,000 performances since, it has become the most frequently performed opera in the world. What few audiences know is that the love story they are watching was drawn from the life of a real woman.
Her name was Alphonsine Rose Plessis. Born into deep poverty in Normandy in 1824. Dead in Paris at the age of twenty-three. In between those two dates, she rose from the lowest rungs of provincial life to the highest reaches of Parisian society, becoming the most celebrated young woman of her age — known to the world as Marie Duplessis.
Before she became Violetta in Verdi’s opera, before she became Marguerite in Dumas’s The Lady of the Camellias, she was simply Alphonsine. This project tells her real story — for the first time — on the page, on the stage, and on the screen.
"Men had just one thing in mind. And she knew it."
A Life in Three Acts
Twenty-three years that changed an opera forever
1824
Nonant-le-Pin · Normandy
Born Alphonsine Plessis to an alcoholic father and a runaway mother. By thirteen she cannot read or write.
1840s
Paris · Boulevard de la Madeleine
As Marie Duplessis, she captivates Liszt, Dumas fils, and the highest circles of Parisian society.
1853
Venice · Teatro La Fenice
Six years after her death, Verdi turns her story into La Traviata. The legend begins.
The Vision
Three works, one story
A transmedia project designed from the start as a single intellectual property — beginning with the novel and expanding into a musical and a limited drama series.
1. The Last Camellia
A 430-page biographical novel by Lauro Notari and Manuela Chiarottino. Thirty-four chapters that restore truth to the woman behind the myth.
The Novel · 2026
2. La Traviata, the Musical
A two-and-a-half hour original score in pre-production with composer Mirco Dalporto. Designed to bring Violetta’s story to a new generation, on the global stage.
The Musical · Pre-production
3. The Limited Series
A six-to-eight episode high-end period drama. Violetta’s story transcends the stage to reach global audiences as a modern cinematic icon.
The Series · In development
The Team
An all-female creative team
For a story about a woman who refused to be defined by the men around her, we are assembling a top-notch creative team made up entirely of women — directors, composers, designers, choreographers — bringing diverse backgrounds and a singular perspective to a tale that, for almost two hundred years, has been told mostly by men.
Who better than women to think up and stage this story? The result we are aspiring to is a show with energy and impact like no other.
The Creators, The Authors
The voices behind the untold story
Lauro Notari
Author · Producer
Lifelong entrepreneur and a writer since 1989, when he produced Christmas — the Musical, the first Anglophone-style Italian musical. Since 2018, he has been at work on the rewriting of La Traviata — a story never told before.
lauronotari.it
Mirco Dalporto
Composer · Arranger · Orchestrator
Keyboardist, composer and arranger with a long career spanning pop, classical and musical theatre. He recorded with Art Bogart, composed and arranged Christmas — The Musical, and worked on orchestral projects including Matilde di Canossa, Angelica and Il Corsaro Nero — il Musical. He is now composing the full musical score and orchestration for La Traviata, The Musical.
Manuela Chiarottino
Author
Writer, editor, ghostwriter, counselor and therapeutic-writing practitioner. Winner of the Verbania For Women 2019 competition and the Fondazione Marazza 2019 children’s award.
storiedascrivere.com
Jessica Halpern
Translator
Originally from Boston and New York, McGill-trained in music, in Italy as a professional translator since 1992. She brings this untold story of La Traviata to a global audience.
jhalpernenglish.wordpress.com
Get involved
Join me... the time is now!
“Christmas the Musical”
1989 Lauro Notari production – Light designer Steve Gray