Review: Glorious! at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford

Florence Foster Jenkins was a rich American socialite who lived for singing but was dubbed ‘the worst singer in the world,’ known for her flamboyant costumes, enigmatic performances and decidedly off-key voice and yet she became rather successful and very popular. In 1944, she packed the Carnegie Hall in New York with a sell-out concert that cemented her fame, only to die a few weeks later after a heart attack.

This performance revives Peter Quilter’s 2005 play, Glorious!, which starred Maureen Lipman when it transferred to the West End. The play starts with us meeting Cosmé McMoon, a restaurant pianist who is persuaded to become Florence’s accompanist, although is rather anguished when he first hears her sing. The lure of money keeps him with her and they become affectionate friends and musical partners. Matthew James Morrison plays him very well, with some good amusing asides and an air of bemused indifference to her inability to sing, the lure of playing Carnegie Hall being too great.

Wendi Peters triumphs in the role of Florence Foister Jenkins. It’s not an easy role to play, a vivacious and confident woman so sure of her talent, with famous supporters like Cole Porter and Caruso but derided by the press and the critics. Peters mangles the lyrics superbly (which is not that easy to do) and thus provides most of the laughs in this very enjoyable performance of a woman so sure of herself that you cannot help but be on her side.

Glorious! turns out to be great fun and really very enjoyable, with good performances from all the actors, who include Sioned Jones as Florence’s dotty friend Dorothy and Caroline Guber who plays her temperamental Italian housekeeper and also an arch critic Mrs Verrinder Gedge, who decries her singing and yet just further resolves Florence to carry on. The script is well written and very amusing, the costumes are wonderfully awful but the ‘singing’ steals the show and puts a big smile on your face.

Glorious! is playing at Yvonne Arnaud Guildford until Saturday 9^th May. Visit yvonne-arnaud.co.uk to book.