An endearing, compelling ‘Souvenir’
Finally got to see Souvenir at the Waterfront and am delighted that I did. This is a little sleeper of a show and I’m surprised it hasn’t garnered more press that it has; there are only two days, Friday and Saturday, left in the run and, as a friend in the audience said, “Everyone should see it.”
The word on the street was also “See it!” but the recommendation didn’t come with caveats. It should have.
This “fantasia on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins,” a wealthy woman in the first half of the 20th century who paid – and probably also earned – her way to a recital in Carnegie Hall, requires an audience with its share of true grit. The reality was that this diva in her own mind couldn’t carry a tune. Singing certainly isn’t my strong suit, but I have a very good ear. It must have been incredibly difficult for a singer as accomplished as Gayla D. Morgan to create such off-key trills, but she did such a good job that the listening was always surprising and sometimes painful.
But be patient and the rewards are bountiful. As narrator and accompaniest Cosme McMoon, Charles Lindberg won an ongoing battle with an over-mic-ed piano to tell his story in speech and song. And it morphs from a rather strange and even uncomfortable unfolding to a suddenly powerful experience of empathy and compassion and a finale that shocked me into totally unexpected tears.
The show was directed by Cameron Murray, with Michael Boyer leading his usually highly competent technical team, although I do wish he had dropped a curtain in front of the windows overlooking Manhattan for the Carnegie Hall on stage scene. Annie Minors was the able stage manager. Special mention to Leigh Hooten’s costumes and Stephanie Sander as dresser; I lost count of the diva’s costume changes but there were a lot.
Saturday is closing night, so run, don’t walk to get tickets. It will do your heart good.
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Sharply insightful review. I hadn’t realized it was the piano being too loud rather that Charles’ singing being to soft, and I missed the window–smart eyes, Connie! Nice to recognize all the hard work behind the scenes.
Yes, the challenge for Gayla in singing so interestingly off-pitch. But you can see how the real-life singer was oddly popullar, with her delusion-based charisma carrying the day. Here, the underplayed songs by Charles were pitch-perfect, but never as engaging as Gayla’s wacky adventures. Subtly done, by Charles, and maybe that’s why he let the piano lead: in life, as in the play, he couldn’t outshine her.