BROADWAY SNAP-SHOT
by Russell Bouthiller

Dateline: December 10, 2005

SOUVENIR

Broadway star Judy Kaye has been blessed with a voice that launched her into sudden stardom. In 1978, Madeline Kahn's abrupt departure from ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY provided that opportunity. A decade later, she brought home a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. And, now, Ms. Kaye returns to Broadway in Stephen Temperley's SOUVENIR and her singing is worse than ever.

Judy Kaye portrays the Roosevelt-era cult sensation, Florence Foster Jenkins, a society matron who imposed herself onto the New York scene with ear-piercing recitals at New York's Ritz Carlton. Miraculously, Jenkins found an audience, went on to record a number of albums, including "Murder on the High Cs," and crowned her career with a Carnegie Hall concert in 1944. She died a month later.

Directed by Vivian Matalon, SOUVENIR opens in 1964 at a supper club "somewhere in Greenwich Village" where seated at the piano Cosme McMoon (Donald Corren) reflects upon his years as the accompanist to the inimitable Mrs. Jenkins. Taking us from their first meeting to the final performance, McMoon draws us a picture of an eccentric, forceful diva who had no clue how awful she sounded.

As personality types, McMoon and Jenkins could not be more opposite one another. Jenkins hails from a world of privilege where the harsh realities of life can be evaded with the wave of a dollar. McMoon is a struggling young composer who must balance paying the rent against his artistic integrity. At first he welcomes the opportunity to work with this woman of means, but once she breaks into song he cringes in disbelief and realizes a compromise may come at a heavy price.

While SOUVENIR offers an undemanding plot construct that establishes and reestablishes this conflict over and over again, the magnitude of Miss Jenkins self-delusion, her determination and sense of rectitude propels the story as we wait for the bubble to burst. And, when it does, ironically, McMoon dutifully shields her from the fallout.

Kaye gives a keenly focused performance as the kindhearted, tone-deaf mock soprano. Jenkins's ability to believe in herself is elegantly displayed by the star's knack for finding the honesty of her character and throwing it out at us with remarkably dissonant results. Still, Temperley's script offers us a sampling of Kaye's luscious talents in a cleverly devised and touching finale.

Donald Corren's McMoon gently guides us through his close relationship with this most outlandish and frustrating character who forces him to reexamine his own successes—or lack thereof. Corren has a firm grasp on conveying McMoon's incredulity which is shaded green with a touch of envy. A simple, yet elegant set by R. Michael Miller provides the perfect ambiance and direction by Ms. Matalon keeps the show moving at a brisk pace. SOUVENIR, a keepsake for the enlightened theatre-goer.