Souvenir at Theater at Monmouth

Souvenir
By Stephen Temperley | Directed by Adam P. Blais
Sponsored by David Harbour & Lily Allen

For more than half a century the name Florence Foster Jenkins has been guaranteed to produce explosions of derisive laughter. Not unreasonably so, as this wealthy society eccentric suffered under the delusion that she was a great coloratura soprano when she was in fact incapable of producing two consecutive notes in tune. Souvenir, by turn hilarious and poignant, tells her story through the eyes of her accompanist, Cosme McMoon; following the genesis of their partnership from its earliest days to their infamous concert in Carnegie Hall and its aftermath. With each new imagined triumph Florence’s confidence soars. Faced with her boundless certainty, Cosme comes to revise his attitude, not only towards her singing but to the very meaning of music itself. A musical odd-couple for the ages.

Authors

• Stephen Temperley