Did Broadway Critics Think Souvenir Hit the Right Notes?
Here is a sampling of what they had to say:
William Stevenson in his Broadway.com Review: "It isn't easy to play a bad singer convincingly. But Judy Kaye does it brilliantly in Stephen Temperley's comedy about the legendarily rotten singer Florence Foster Jenkins. Previously staged at the York Theatre Company in late 2004, Souvenir now has a grander set, fancier costumes and a more accomplished co-star, Donald Corren. Despite the improvements, the play isn't really the thing; it's Kaye's hilarious, delightfully pitch-imperfect performance... Thanks to Kaye's superb performance and Corren's invaluable support, the comedy seems right at home at the Lyceum Theatre."
Ben Brantley of The New York Times: "That Souvenir, directed by Vivian Matalon and also starring Donald Corren, emerges as more than a freak show has to do with its author's heartfelt insistence on moving beyond the punch line... The investigative empathy of Mr. Temperley, Ms. Kaye and Mr. Corren, who portrays Mrs. Jenkins's long-time accompanist, turns the first act of Souvenir into an unexpectedly gentle and affecting comedy. More's the pity that the second act comes close to erasing its previously accumulated good will... As Cosme considers his mixed motives for staying with Mrs. Jenkins and his growing acceptance of her absolute faith in herself, Mr. Corren avoids limp-wristed caricature and easy laughs. Seeing Mrs. Jenkins through Cosme's clear but loving eyes is an essential optical aid for the audience. Ms. Kaye, a Tony winner for The Phantom of the Opera and longtime favorite of Broadway insiders, blossoms nobly within this framework."
Clive Barnes of The New York Post: "It must be terribly difficult for such an accomplished singer as Kaye to sing so atrociously with such fantastic authenticity, although perhaps, in the Carnegie Hall re-creation, she wandered into understandable comic exaggeration. Certainly, Kaye makes this awesomely awful diva disarmingly cuddly and lovable, while Corren, looking like a seedy but genial James Mason, does a lovely job, both as actor and piano accompanist. Yet the play's central flaw remains. The real piquancy of the Foster Jenkins joke was: Did she or didn't she? Was it a clever hoax on the public, or was this disastrously voiced soprano truly oblivious of the sounds she was making? Temperley comes down on the side of innocence, which probably is the truth. Yet I always treasured the hope she might be giggling up her ornamental sleeve at all our superior snobbery."
Howard Kissel of The New York Daily News: "In less gifted hands, Souvenir, which is subtitled 'A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins,' could have been a crude joke. Instead, with a script by Stephen Temperley and superlative performances by Judy Kaye as Jenkins and Donald Corren as her accompanist--the wonderfully named Cosme McMoon--it makes hilarious and deeply touching theater out of something inherently ridiculous... Elegantly designed, beautifully directed, Souvenir is a kind of loony triumph."
David Rooney of Variety: "While this might have been a single-joke recital in other hands, Souvenir is hoisted as high as Madame Flo's perilously high C's in Judy Kaye's towering comic performance... The writing could at times be more resourceful, relying too heavily on McMoon to describe events rather than dramatizing them, and shaving 10 or so minutes might benefit the play. But Vivian Matalon's crisp direction keeps it engaging. A large part of the central character's persuasiveness is due to Kaye's richly sympathetic turn. She makes the singer a fearful snob but also a guileless innocent, inviting admiration for her complete lack of self-doubt and the undiluted happiness she experiences---and conveys, for different reasons--through her singing."
Elysa Gardner of USA Today: "Florence Foster Jenkins, the subject of Stephen Temperley's charming Souvenir, didn't have the benefit of modern pitch-correcting technology. But as envisioned by Temperley, she had an unshakable self-confidence, fed by legions of admirers. Chief among those admirers was Foster's accompanist, Cosme McMoon, the other character seen onstage in Souvenir, which opened Thursday at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre. Their unlikely bond is beautifully detailed by performers more accomplished than the folks they play."
Linda Winer of Newsday: "The best worst performance of this or many a season is being perpetrated at the Lyceum Theater by Judy Kaye. We mean this in the nicest possible way, of course... There are only two things wrong. First, despite Vivian Matalon's tender and amusing direction, this is a one-joke trifle stretched to almost two and a half hours. Next, though Temperley attempts to protect himself by subtitling his sentimental play 'a fantasia' on Jenkins' life, almost nothing onstage is true."