Souvenir Press Reviews
"Souvenir" at Vermont Stage Company
- Reviewed by Connie Meng
- Reviewed for North Country Public Radio
- Reviewed on January 29th, 2010
The Vermont Stage Company's production of SOUVENIR by Stephen Temperley currently running at the FlynnSpace in Burlington is just plain terrific. The tightly written script tells the story of the relationship between Florence Foster Jenkins and her long-time coach and pianist Cosme McMoon.
Miss Jenkins was a wealthy socialite with no musical or singing ability whatsoever who was nevertheless firmly convinced of the beauty of her voice and was passionately devoted to her art. Initially performing for friends at the Ritz Carleton, she developed a large following in the 1940s for her peculiar performances and eventually sold out Carnegie Hall.
Vermont Stage's "Souvenir"
- Reviewed by Brent Hallenbeck
- Reviewed for The Burlington Free Press
- Reviewed on January 28th, 2010
What to make of this woman, Florence Foster Jenkins? The well-bred New York socialite of the 1930s seems to speak several languages, yet comprehend none. She sings like a dog howling along to the noontime fire whistle. And worst of all, she not only has no idea how bad a singer she is, she actually believes she has perfect pitch.
Those are some of the thoughts the audience finds itself pondering at the enjoyable Vermont Stage production of "Souvenir," an inspired-by-real-events play that opened Wednesday, Jan. 27 at FlynnSpace. They're also the thoughts of the play's other character, the improbably named Cosme McMoon, the pianist for Florence Foster Jenkins' bizarre and increasingly popular recitals. Though the "vocalist," played by Broadway veteran Nancy Johnston, is the flamboyant star of "Souvenir," McMoon (played by Carl J. Danielsen) is the real catalyst in Stephen Temperley's script, the one who allows us to understand that the beauty of music may not always be in what we hear but in what we feel.
Sweet Sensation
- Reviewed by Elisabeth Crean
- Reviewed for Seven Days
- Reviewed on February 3rd, 2010
Each season, the early episodes of "American Idol" feature train-wreck auditions from tone-deaf contestants. Judges mock the hapless participants, who seem genuinely convinced of their musical gifts and imminent stardom. This "so-bad-it's-good" appeal is part of what draws viewers to reality television. But can audience schadenfreude support a music career that sells records and concert tickets? For opera diva Florence Foster Jenkins (1868-1944), it did.
The singer who couldn't sing and didn't know it became the toast of New York City in the 1930s and '40s. Stephen Temperley's two-person play Souvenir (2004) affectionately retells Jenkins' story through the eyes of her pianist, Cosme McMoon (1901-1980). For Vermont Stage Company, Carl J. Danielsen and Nancy Johnston give confident, well-matched performances as the oddly endearing pair. Supported by refined technical elements and Sara Lampert Hoover's sure-handed direction, the talented duo turns the off-key warbler's tale into a pitch-perfect evening of theater.
Bad Singing Was Never So Funny
- Reviewed by Jim Lowe
- Reviewed for The Times Argus
- Reviewed on February 8th, 2010
BURLINGTON - Few hysterically funny comedies can claim to be based on absolute fact, but Vermont Stage Company's "Souvenir" certainly is one.
Florence Foster Jenkins (1868-1944) was a society dowager who thought herself an opera star. Certainly many have had delusions of grandeur, but few - if any - with little, or no musical talent have performed publicly with great success and ultimately selling out Carnegie Hall. Jenkins - with a voice that defies description - did.
"Souvenir," a fictional retelling of the relationship between Jenkins and her accompanist by Stephen Temperly, is a tender and hysterically funny comedy, and Vermont Stage Company's production is simply charming. "souvenir" moves to Middlebury's Town Hall Theater Feb. 11-13.