Florence Foster Jenkins, a new film directed by Stephen Frears, celebrates a true amateur. The complex (and, at times, humiliating) narrative is based upon a real historical figure, notorious among lovers of music and camp. Starring the ubiquitous, albeit justifiably, Meryl Streep as the eponymous heroine, the movie explores the figure in all her intricacy. And under the direction of Frears (who probed similar themes of radical self-ignorance in his movie The Queen), the film is beautifully crafted, dexterously riding the thin line between broad comedy and touching drama. Read more »
It all began for me when I was ten years old as a member of the Texas Boys Choir in my hometown of Fort Worth. Before every weekday rehearsal after school, director George Bragg would play classical music LPs through huge theater speakers, giving us an exposure to great music. One day, breaking tradition, he played a 1954 10” RCA record called A Florence! Foster!! Jenkins!!! Recital!!!!, featuring a lady singing so off-pitch and generally just plain awful in every aspect. Read more »
Internationally known opera star Gerald Finley performs a selection of art songs in his only New York City recital this season. An evening of German lieder, Russian melodies and more. Wednesday, May 2nd at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall. Read more »
La Cieca finds it difficult to imagine any more offbeat casting than the sublime Joyce DiDonato as “The Worst Singer in the World,” but she supposes that is where the acting will come in when the Yankee Diva portrays the title role in The Florence Foster Jenkins Story, a “documentary feature film” set for release in late 2016. [Facebook]
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