A Date with Florence

Most people remember the first time that they heard the singing of the infamous Florence Foster Jenkins.   For me,  it was while I was a freshman at Luther College, which means it was roughly 37 years ago.    I’m not sure who it was who pulled her LP off of the shelf in the Preus Library record room,  but as the sound of her appalling singing cascaded out of the speakers,  I could not believe my ears.  It was at once both horrifying and amazing.  For those of you who don’t know her story,   Mrs. Jenkins was a New York City socialite who loved music- and loved to sing in public, despite the fact that her talent for doing so was all-but-non-existent.  But what she lacked in skill,  she tried to make up in heart and enthusiasm.  And thanks to the fact that she plunked down some money to have her singing recorded,  her vocalism has been preserved for posterity to “enjoy.”

Her story has been recounted onstage in (at least) two different plays- and it was in “Glorious”  that my wife had the opportunity to portray FFJ for the Racine Theater Guild several years ago.   It was a formidable undertaking,  not just in terms of the huge number of lines she had to memorize, but also in all of the music she had to learn – which she then had to sing with excruciating badness!  But beyond all that,  she had to convey the beautiful, sweet heart of Florence so the play wouldn’t be reduced to mere farce.   And that’s where Kathy really scored her greatest triumph, by making Florence someone you loved and for whom you wished only the best.

The instant that it was announced that a film was being made about FFJ with Meryl Streep in the title role,  Kathy and I knew that we had to see it- and in the spirit of Florence’s zest for life and pull-out-all-the-stops exuberance,  we decided to invite a bevy of RTG friends- including the cast of “Glorious”- to see the film together and then gather at our house afterwards for a fun and fancy party.  It seemed like exactly the sort of thing that Florence herself would have done.

The movie does not appear to be based on “Glorious” but it follows roughly the same time frame, in that very close to the beginning is when Florence first meets Cosme McMoon, the man who was to become her devoted piano accompanist …. and the film essentially climaxes with Florence’s notorious recital at Carnegie Hall.  Where the film differs most dramatically from the play is in some of the darker themes that it explores-  such as the seamier side of Florence’s “husband” St. Clair,  who is carrying on a torrid (and physical)  love affair with another woman while remaining devoted and faithful to Florence in every other aspect.   The film also touches on the dark specter of savage criticism of Florence’s singing,  which St. Clair endeavors mightily to prevent through various means, including bribery.    And when Florence ultimately rents Carnegie Hall to sing a concert and St. Clair cannot prevent the New York Post critic, among others,  from honestly reviewing it,  he does everything within his powers to see to it that his wife never sees those reviews.  That whole storyline generates a tremendous amount of suspense, even if it ultimately strays from the factual record a bit, as Hollywood so often does.

The heart and soul of the film, however, is the touching performance of Meryl Streep as Florence.  Much has been made of her uncanny evocation of Florence’s tin-ear vocalism, but Streep captures much more than its ugliness and ungainliness;  Streep also shows us the open-hearted generosity with which Florence sang,  which in turn helps us understand her compulsion to sing – and her tenacious determination to sing as well as she possible could (which, unfortunately,  was still not-well-at-all.)  One of my favorite scenes in the movie comes after Florence and her husband attend a performance at Carnegie Hall which features the legendary French coloratura soprano Lily Pons,  one of the biggest opera stars of that era.  Florence is overcome by the beauty of Pons’ singing, which fuels her desire to return to singing herself.  And in a theme that is not even hinted at in “Glorious,” Florence more than once refers to the ugly horror of the Second World War and of the vital importance that beautiful music can and must play in such challenging times.   It’s an especially poignant aspect of the story.   Streep’s heartwarming performance is ably matched by Hugh Grant as her suave husband St. Clair and Simon Helberg as pianist Cosme McMoon.   It’s worth mentioning that the film is visually sumptuous and unfailingly true to the period.

If I could change anything,  I would remove a couple of somewhat melodramatic moments that really wrench us out of the moment and make us very conscious of the fact that we’re watching a movie.   One involves a supporting character who is something of a floozy and who finds Florence’s singing to be utterly ridiculous the first time she hears it.   Yet somehow by the end of the film,  she has become one of Florence’s champions and actually shouts down audience members at Carnegie Hall who are hooting and laughing derisively.   The moment itself feels completely forced and artificial, plus we’re given not the slightest hint of how this character evolved from Point A to Point B.   I also had a little bit of trouble with the aforementioned scene in which St. Clair is desperately trying to make sure that his wife does not see the brutally frank review of her Carnegie Hall recital that has been published in the New York Post.  Yes,  it generates some excitement but it also feels like an inauthentic Hollywood trick- almost like a scene from an I Love Lucy episode.   But those reservations aside,  I really loved this movie on all kinds of levels… and I’m glad that the RTG group nearly packed the small theater in which it was shown.  That only added to the sense of electricity in the air.

Afterwards,  everyone was invited to our house for a party that was supposed to have at least a whiff of the kind of fancy gatherings which Florence herself loved to host for her society friends.  That meant that in addition to your standard meatballs and munchies,  there were also cucumber sandwiches – as well as a fresh vegetable tray in which the carrots and celery were crinkle-cut ….. again, to be FANCY!

And speaking of fancy,  dessert included ornately frosted petit fours as well as a splendidly decorated cake from O & H Bakery that was adorned with the words “What a Glorious Evening!”   And because of a specific line from the play,  we made sure that the cake was decorated with those small silver balls that can break your teeth if you’re not careful,  but used to be found on just about all fancy cakes.

The spread was pretty spectacular (thank you, Anna and Aidan, for all of your preparatory help that afternoon) but what really made the party a true Florence Gathering was the warmth and love in the air.  It felt like a celebration of sorts, although exactly what we were celebrating is hard to say.  Part of it was to remember all of the fun that came with the RTG’s production of “Glorious” – and towards that end,  it was so nice to have nearly all of the cast together for the first time since that play closed several years ago.   (Left to right:  director Norm McPhee,  Ron Halvorsen,  Kate Mooney,  Dawn Van Ess, and Kathy Berg.)

So part of the fun of this night was this sense of reunion.  But beyond that was the Joy of gathering around a mutual love like music or theater – and a reminder that no matter how dark or foreboding the world may seem,  gifts like music and friendship always manage to brighten things up again, one way or another ….  even if the music is being rendered by as hapless and hopeless a singer as Florence Foster Jenkins.