Florence Foster Jenkins, the legendary tone-deaf diva, is remembered as the phenomena who sold out tickets to her last concert, her one and only appearence at Carnegie Hall, in two hours. New York and London playwright, Stephen Temperley has resurrected her life in an affectionate comedy, Souvenir; a Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins, which combines her concert career with the parallel ambitions of her faithful accompanist. Awarding soprano, Leigh Barrett tackles the challenge of making this music-obsessed socialite likable and reproducing her off-key singing without permanently destroying her own vocal chords. IRNE winner Will McGarrahan employs his comic timing and keyboard skills to become Cosme McMoon, an erstwhile songwriter in the life, who narrates their association from 1927 to her death in 1944, the year of her final concert. She was 76.
Since there is very little documented concerning how they actually worked together, Temperley was free to construct a entertainment which imagines the growing professional affection between the aging socialite and the younger ambitious member of the smart set. Her recordings--which actually did quite well--show McMoon's skill at trying to follow her wayward voice and providing some sense of rhythm. The author starts his play, with McMoon working at a supper club sometime after the war, reminiscing of how he, trying to begin a songwriting career by supporting himself accompanying, met Madame Jenkins. He's cajoled into accompanying her for her first charity concert in the ballroom of the Ritz-Carleton, where she lives. As the years pass, marked changes in Madame's ensembles, carefully designed by David Costa-Cabral, McMoon grows to admire her love of music as an ideal, despite being frustrated by her almost unbelievable lack of musicality. He almost becomes reconciled with his own lack of recognition. (Some believe he was actually Edwin McArthur, who later went on the accompany Kirsten Flagstaff, which is hardly as dramatic.) Director Spiro Veloudos, who's worked both principals before, has developed a heartfelt comedy from the relationship.
"Souvenir" is presented on a handsome unit set designed by Skip Curtis, one of Lyric's former production managers who now works at Zero Arrow. Together with lighting by Robert Cordella, Lyric's master electrician and designer of a number of shows there, the evening has a remarkable continuity. The highlight of Cabral's costumes is his quick change get-ups for FFJ's final concert, based on outfits she wore over the years, including her infamous angel wings for the "Ave Maria." At the heart of this fantasia is its exploration of extreme dedication to one's art, as suggested by Madame Jenkins herself; "Some may say I couldn't sing but no one can say I didn't sing."