Center Stage Gives a 'Souvenir' for the Summer

Center Stage had a problem. The play they had inserted into their last and final slot of the season could not be done and they needed a replacement. So I guess you could call the Broadway production of Souvenir a replacement play for the Baltimore theater and theatergoers are having a delight.

It is not often that a local theater gets the opportunity to see an actress revive her Tony-nominated role in a play but Baltimore/Washington have had a delightful time watching Judy Kaye and her co-star, Donald Corren take over the boards at Center Stage these last few weeks of the season.

Souvenir, a surprising comic sensation during the 2005-2006 Broadway season tells the incredible-but-true story of real-life Manhattan socialite Florence Foster Jenkins who becomes a huge sensation and a cult hero in the Thirties and Forties. And why was this performer such a hit? She couldn't sing a lick! But she thought she could.

The play is told by accompanist, Cosme McMoon (played brilliantly by Donald Corren), who has the same dead pan delivery as Steve Martin. McMoon made his New York debut at the Plaza Hotel in 1922 with grand ideas to perform. However, due to financial considerations, he accepted his role as Jenkins' accompanist while abstaining from revealing the truth to her on stage and off.

He commented, " The audience nearly always tried not to hurt her feelings by outright laughing so they developed a convention that whenever she came to a particularly excruciating discord...where they had to laugh, they burst into these salvos of applause and whistles and the noise was so great that could laugh at liberty."

It is incomprehensible to imagine that Jenkins actually performed at Carnegie Hall and even made recordings.

Act II is devoted to the experience at Carnegie Hall and I was laughing so hard my face began to hurt.

There are a multitude of clever costume changes by designer Tracy Christensen. And I was told this this is was one of the few productions at Center Stage where the lead actress sang without any assistance.

Which leads me to Ms. Kaye. I remember in 1988 her Tony-winning performance for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for The Phantom of the Opera (Carlotta), her great portrayal of Emma Goldman in the 1998 Broadway production of Ragtime, and her memorable role in the original Broadway cast of Mamma Mia! where as Rosie where she almost stole the show with "Take a Chance on Me" for which she also received a Tony nomination.

Like Kermit the Frog who sings "It Ain't Easy Being Green", it ain't easy to be awful. But Kaye pulls it off masterly.

The audience is treated to a lovely coda at the end when Kaye gets the opportunity to lick her chops singing "Ave Maria". The audience was spell-bound.

Souvenir closes March 24. I wish it could have been extended. Call 410-332-0033 or visit www.centerstage.org.

Thanks to avid reader Bob Harris for forwarding me this hilarious link to hear the real Florence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysCPgkHniWQ

For comments, write to cgshubow@broadwayworld.com.