My wife and I are subscribers to the Canadian Stage Company and tonight we will have the unique pleasure of hearing a woman purposely sing off-key. The play is called Glorious! and it chronicles the unique singing career of Florence Foster Jenkins (1868-1944), a wealthy Philadelphia socialite who, despite having no singing ability at all, managed to fund her own rise to a certain kind of fame.
Staunchly convinced of her talent, she began to give recitals in 1912. Many people attended her performances for the sheer amusement of hearing her butcher classic pieces by Verdi and Mozart. Her performing career culminated in a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1944. The 76-year-old Jenkins died a month later.
A record was released after her death, cheekily entitled “The Glory (????) of the Human Voice” which is now, understandably, a collector’s item. The liner notes make it clear that despite receiving no support at all from her parents or husband, and often being subject to derision and laughter during her performances, Florence was nevertheless happy making her own kind of music.
As an example of “outsider art” (modern-day equivalents might be American Idol hopeful William Hung, and homeless schizophrenic songwriter Wesley Willis), she can easily be viewed as a subject for mockery, but there is something noble in her complete self-belief, not to mention the longevity of her career. She had a dream and she went for it. And she wasn’t completely ignorant of what people were saying about her. As she once observed, “People may say I can’t sing, but no one can ever say I didn’t sing.” Bravo, Florence! Glorious!
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You rock! You are a great writer. Very awesome. Can’t wait to see the play.
Sadly, the play was a bit one-dimensional, playing up the slapstick and never really fleshing out someone who must have been a remarkable woman. There must be a decent biography somewhere.
Saw the play Dec. 14 in Victoria, b.c. and I have to say it was one of the funniest I have ever seen. Brought a lot of laughs over the evening and of note the actors were well chosen. I cannot think of when I had more fun at a play. Kudos to Ms Jenkins.
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