Glorious

I attended on 18 March due to Lance Milton, Regional Representative, having been unable to attend the evening before.  A very warm welcome from Front of House and other members of the Company.

Glorious by Peter Quilter is a brief glimpse into the life of Florence Foster Jenkins who was a rich, eccentric American woman who couldn't sing but who became something of a craze; she ended up singing in, and filling, the Carnegie Hall in New York having paid for it all out of her own wealth.

The play opened with old pictures of New York projected onto a screen, setting the scene for 1944 at the Hotel Seymour, and then the curtain opens to Florence’s apartment in the hotel, with exterior entrance to the apartment stage left, a door into the apartment centre stage left. Furnishings and pictures appropriate, with a grand piano stage right, behind which was the entrance/exit for the maid.

Florence (Jane Haines) is interviewing Cosmo McMoon (John Pursglove) to be her accompanist; his answers to many of her questions were very amusing as were his facial expressions.  His accent was good and maintained throughout, as was his timing.  Her maid, Maria (Jan Critchley) in excellent maid costume, is from Guadalajara and speaks only Mexican but her actions and facial expressions left us in no doubt what she felt about various situations. Congratulations to Jan in mastering the language!

Two of Florence’s friends are Dorothy (Di Norman) who with her pet dog pops in and out; her other friend is St Clair (Peter Ingledew) who is a British out of work actor living in New York always hoping to find a job but in truth appears to be quite content with supporting Florence in her aim to make a recording and also to sing at Carnegie Hall, and enjoys her Bourbon!  Dorothy is probably Florence’s biggest fan.

In Act 1, Scene 2 we are in the Melotone recording studios, where Florence is recording the “Laughing Song” from “Die Fledermaus” with dreadful singing, which must have made true aficionados cringe.  She eventually gets Cosmo to listen to the recording of a fine singer and her version and asks which he considers the finest! What can the man say but “This hall will never hear anything like it again”.

Act 2, Scene 1 is the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, decorated with “birds theme” and vases of flowers. Florence in her beautiful Spanish costume tosses carnations to the audience. St Clair suddenly collapses, which the audience believably suspect is a heart attack, and the curtains close. In the next scene were are in Funerary garden outside a church where we all expect it to be the funeral of St Clair, but to our great surprise and mirth it is actually Dorothy’s pet dog. The coffin had a wonderful white floral dog with legs in the air perched on the top.

Act 2, Scene 2 on the stage of Carnegie Hall with masses of flowers from famous admirers; Florence’s singing is rudely interrupted from the audience by Mrs Verrinder-Gedge (Mary Matson) who is a snooty society matron with a petition from a music appreciation society, and determined to stop Florence performing.  Mary demonstrated well the character’s indignation at the petition not making any impression on Florence or her friends.

Act 2, Scene 3 opened with film of the interior of Carnegie Hall, and the audience is “the audience”. It is the big recital by Florence in an “Angel costume” with a halo that lit up, and very large feather wings.   At the end of the singing, Cosmo takes the spotlight and informs the audience that a few weeks after that recital Florence died.

Recordings of arias by professionals played during scene changes, helped us understand how “off-key” Florence was, but all her singing was extremely well done by Jane Haines who is a singing teacher!  All the characters were believable and maintained a fine pace. The set designs together with the fine costumes, particularly for Florence, had been well chosen and the Director, Anne Stern, is to be congratulated on a very amusing and enjoyable production.  The scene changes were done with the minimum of delay and could not have been easy for the back stage crew.   Congratulations to all the cast for a performance which by the audiences’ reaction was very amusing and greatly enjoyed – I certainly did. 

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