Review: The Absurd True Story Of The Unbelievably Unaware Socialite Florence Foster Jenkins Plays Out In GLORIOUS.

Tuesday 5th September 2017, 7:30pm

Peter Quilter's play GLORIOUS, about the famously terrible amateur soprano Florence Foster Jenkins (Diana McLean), is a highly entertaining look at what happens when self-confidence collides with delusional belief in one's own abilities. Covering the period from when skilled but struggling pianist Cosme McMoon (Mitchell Roberts) joined the American Socialite as her accompanist to her passing in 1944, this work is both hilarious and inspiring regardless of the ridiculousness of Foster Jenkins' ignorance to the truth behind her 'success'.

For those unfamiliar with The New Yorker, Foster Jenkins' built a solid following of fans but it was questionable if she ever realised the truth behind their loyalty. She loved singing and believed herself to be a wonderful opera singer, delivering concerts to selected audiences that all agreed to an interview to attend her performances. The truth was that Foster Jenkins' singing was beyond terrible and even when people did try to tell her, she would dismiss them or misconstrue the criticisms as complements. For this expression of her life, Quilter focuses the story on Foster Jenkins and her young accompanist McMoon with a handful of additional characters covered by Felicity Soper.

Set, Costume and Lighting Designer Sophie Woodward transports the audience to New York City in the first half of the 20th Century with the aid of a large central screen with archive images and footage. With a moderate level of set dressing, Woodward creates Foster Jenkins' Manhattan apartment, Melotone Recording Studio, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel's Grand Ballroom where she delivered the Annual Ball of the Silver Skylarks concerts and Carnegie Hall, where she delivered her famousl sold out performance. The costuming reflects Foster Jenkins' absurdly flamboyant outfits that she believed enhanced the performance while McMoon is kept relatively tame in suits whilst still alluding to his persuasion that Foster Jenkins never quite seem to understand. The additional characters of Mexican maid Maria, Foster Jenkins' devoted friend Dorothy and the irate Mrs Verrinder-Gedge are presented with a degree of stereotyping from standard black maid's outfit to Upper East Side socialite in peacock blue ensemble and disgruntled frump in tweed.

McLean and Roberts deliver fabulous performances. McLean's ability to create such a deliciously dreadful sound as the "first lady of the sliding scale" is twitch inducing and immensely hilarious all at the same time and demonstrates an incredible skill and commitment to the character to purposely sound so awful. McLean ensures that Foster Jenkins unwavering confidence is clear throughout her wobbling warbling and she infuses an honesty and sincerity in the performance which ensures that the ludicrous woman remains real. She exposes Foster Jenkins vulnerability when she must deal with the protester who tries to discredit her, capturing the apparent innocence and naivety.

Roberts, as McMoon, serves as narrator for the work and delivers a beautifully balanced performance with wonderful comic timing and a sincerity behind the carefully selected 'complements'. He conveys the young man's apprehension towards working with the clearly vocally deficient Foster Jenkins whilst weighing up the cost to his reputation and the promise of good regular paymenT. Roberts expresses the manners and formality of the era and he allows McMoon to grow and mature through his time with Foster Jenkins, also expressing the increasing friendship and desire to protect the older woman.

Soper delivers three additional characters, each presented with a high degree of stereotyping, from the Mexican housekeeper Maria with limited English and an unusual attitude, the simpering devoted fan and friend from the Upper East Side and the righteous protesting music teacher representing a petition. Her flexibility with accents, coupled with costume changes ensures that the different characters are easily identified

GLORIOUS! is the only time this BWW Reviewer would happily abuse their ears to get the opportunity to witness a hilarious honest work.

GLORIOUS!

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