A musical theatre piece in two acts inspired by the life of Charles Baudelaire and his muse, Jeanne Duval.

Conceived by Christian Holder

Book and Lyrics by Christian Holder

Music by Noa Ain

Additional Arrangements by Theo Saunders

A universal story of the plight of The Artist and his quest to produce and create in the face of adversity, Verse of Fortune focuses on aspects of the life and work of French symbolist poet, Charles Baudelaire. Spanning the years from 1844, when he was a spendthrift bon vivant and chivalrous Dandy, to 1867, the year of his death when he had become dissipated and defeated by illness and chronic debt, the libretto focuses on his twenty-year relationship with his muse, Jeanne Duval. She is a woman of color from Haiti, and theirs is a tempestuous union fraught with passion, love and hostility. Still, Charles remains in love with, and inspired by, Jeanne to the end.