At the turn of the last century, Florence Foster Jenkins was a New York phenomenon where she rose to fame for her annual sold-out recitals at the Ritz Carlton and Carnegie Hall. Crowds went wild when Mrs. Jenkins tackled the most difficult arias in opera, festooned in fabulous costumes.
The only trouble was: Mrs. Jenkins could not sing. Not a note. Still, Florence, a YouTube sensation far ahead of her time, could not be deterred from her dedication to music and voice lessons with her accomplished and compassionate accompanist, Cosme McMoon.
Souvenir is a play by Stephen Temperley about Florence Foster Jenkins and Cosme McMoon. It is currently running at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany, NY. The production is directed by CapRep’s Producing Artistic Director, Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill.
Jonas Cohen plays afore mentioned “compassionate accompanist,” Cosme McMoon and he joins us to discuss the play.
