“Souvenir”

Florence Foster Jenkins, wealthy society eccentric suffered under the delusion that she was a great coloratura soprano. Nevertheless, her annual recitals at the Ritz Carlton brought her extraordinary fame. As news of her terrible singing spread, so did her celebrity. The climax of her career was a single concert in Carnegie Hall in 1944. Famously, it sold out in two hours. Souvenir, by turn hilarious and poignant, tells her story through the eyes of her accompanist, Cosme McMoon. A talented musician, his initial contempt gives way to reluctant admiration. Eyewitness accounts of their concerts vary so wildly, it is almost impossible now to separate fact from gossip. Hence this fictional “biography.”