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PROVINCETOWN GUIDE
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| DIRECTORY |
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Provincetown :: Saturday, July 5th 2008
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Florence Foster Jenkins.
Temperley's ''Souvenir'' at Theater
Directed by Susan Grilli, with Mary Abt and John Thomas
By Kahrin Deines
May 4th, 2008
“It’s so bad it’s good” is a refrain usually reserved for movies or kitsch. But it turns out the sentiment, if not the refrain, likely goes back much further than the ‘90s.
| “Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins” is playing May 3 to 4 and May 8 to 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Provincetown Theater. |
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Florence Foster Jenkins is a case in point. Jenkins, a wealthy socialite turned soprano, earned the allegiance of her audiences by singing so badly that it was good.
After her disapproving parents died in 1912, Jenkins began her singing career, building her name in concert after concert through performances that were beyond the pale. As the story goes, however, Jenkins took her surge in fame to be a measure of her talent, rather than a measure of her audiences’ love of mockery.
It is this perceived delusion that forms the central plot line of Stephen Temperley’s play “Souvenir,” which is now being performed at the Provincetown Theater.
The play, which ran on Broadway in 2005, begins in a piano bar, years after Jenkins’ death, as her former accompanist Cosme McMoon wonders aloud about why he played his keys to her bad notes.
From there, Temperley takes us back to find out why, raising questions about what it takes to be a laughingstock along the way.
The play closes with Jenkins’ first-ever public concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944, where McMoon decides not to damp the flame of her brilliant delusion.
Produced by Counter Productions, “Souvenir” is directed by Susan Grilli, with Mary Abt as Jenkins and John W. Thomas as McMoon.
“Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins” is playing May 3 to 4 and May 8 to 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Provincetown Theater. To buy tickets for the performance, visit www.ptowntix.com or call 508.487.9793. To find out more about Counter Productions, visit www.counter-productions.org. Counter Productions will be presenting four plays at the Provincetown Theater during the upcoming summer.
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