CREW
Directed by: Bob DeDea
Stage Manager: Jen Klos
Costume Designer: Laurie Roberts
Scenic Design: Susanna Wilson
Technical Director: Rob Fiser
Sound Designer: Danny Miller
Lighting Design: Rob Falk
Set Crew: Rob Fiser, Jen Klos, Caitlin Frances, Jeanette Gaines
CAST
Cosme McMoon: Mark Rabe
Florence Foster Jenkins:Kathleen Roche-Zujko
RAVES
"Wow! What a show- I laughed until I cried---I cried tears of sadness for that poor clueless woman and the friendship forged. You both are so incredibly talented! makes me want to go practice. alot........ Thanks so much, T. G."
You were fabulous tonight!!! We couldn't stay to congratulate you in person, but I wanted you to know how much we enjoyed the show. On the way there, B. said "Why would someone write a musical about a woman who couldn't sing?". Afterwards, I said "That is why someone would write a musical about a woman who couldn't sing"!! Your costar did a great job as well.
Thanks for giving us a wonderful evening.
R.M.
It was SO fabulous- I went last night. Every one should attend. E.S.
"(Souvenir") Is hilarious, touching, and beautiful! Go see!" J.G.
I came to see your show today with my Mom and I just wanted to tell u how wonderfull it was. When u sang ave maria at the end I was deeply touched. It was beautiful and I hope to someday try to match your great talent. I sometimes feel like the character u played. I feel the music deep inside me that no one else hears but me, I am so thankful for all u do to bring it out and thank you for being firm with me and pushing me to do better, u are an angel in my life- P.G.
I am so glad I got to see you in "Souvenir" last night! I really enjoyed it and you were just wonderful! I admire you and am inspired by you! C.K.
Directors Notes
When I was a kid we would sometimes play a game that we called “Sin Be Bad” - it was a stupid name, an amalgamation of “Sinbad” (the sailor dude) and “Be Bad” (or “sin”). The object was to pretend to be really bad at something.But if one is at all proficient at something, the truth is it’s hard to be bad at it. If one can sing, for instance, it takes an effort to be a bad singer. Reflexes and training kick in.On the other hand, if one is, well, really, really bad –incomprehensibly incompetent -- at, say, singing, you might think such a person would shy away from the act.
Or not.
In the 1930s one such woman became a phenomenon. People flocked to her concerts to hear her sing stupendously horridly. They were skilled at hiding their enjoyment behind handkerchiefs and fists. But there was one thing that was even more astounding than how badly this woman sang.It was that she didn’t know she sounded like an expiring warbler.Among those of us with a smidgeon of talent, there are few who can claim that they are not assailed by doubt from time to time. For Florence Foster Jenkins, this doubt was confronted as a young girl, wrestled with through her formative years, and roundly excised by her later years. She began her famously infamous career at the age of 66, with an unassailable confidence. And it is then that the story of Souvenir begins.Lady Florence believed that she was an exceptionally gifted soprano. Her faith in her talent was unshakeable, almost unstoppable. Souvenir proves that her unswerving devotion to her craft and complete, if misguided, belief in her own abilities can be an unexpected source of inspiration.She did not scale the heights alone, however. If it were not for her accompanist of twelve years, Cosme McMoon, it is doubtful that she could have ever played Carnegie Hall. Their relationship was unique and yet familiar. For he was her anchor through the years, ever constant, ever patient, ever attentive. And she grew to be his friend and, in the end, a sort of behavioral muse.It would be remiss to pass off this play as history (it is subtitled “A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins”). The factual Foster Jenkins was certainly more abrasive and perhaps less sentimental. But Souvenir is meant as a tribute to the indomitable spirit of the woman and as a testament to her memory as brought to life by Cosme.I hope you’ll find it as touching and as memorable as I.
-Director Bob DeDea
Click the link below to see pictures
from past productions!
