Glorious! review - Notorious singer's story told in irresistible style on Leamington stage

What is a star? Is it someone with exceptional talent? Or is it someone who we simply say is a star? And is there such a thing as star quality?

Florence Foster Jenkins, who was a real-life wealthy American in the 1940s with a passion for singing but no particular talent, had it. And so does Rayner Wilson, who plays her in the Loft Theatre’s new production of Peter Quilter’s hit play, Glorious.

You have to be able to sing really well to imitate Florence Foster Jenkins. Wilson is a very good singer indeed, because her vocal delivery, both in speech and in song, is perfectly off-key, yet retains a sensibility of timing and phrase and character that shows she knows exactly what she is doing. And in the end, when we have travelled with her on her journey from local heroine to Carnegie Hall, we have come to love her. Wilson has a gift of rapport which is irresistible.

She is not the only star in this warmly affectionate production. Jeremy Heynes gives an outstanding performance a St Clair, Foster Jenkins’s loyal friend and supporter. He gives the part grace, humour and dignity.

Likewise, Luca Catena as Cosme McMoon, Foster Jenkins’s long-suffering pianist, through whose eyes we live the tale. Cosme passes from horror at the indignities imposed by his magnificently misguided mistress to a real love for her. His closing speech is the stuff of tears.

Florence Foster Jenkins seemed to have inspired as many friends as she did detractors. Dorothy, played by Rebecca Clarke, is one of those friends, a gloriously mad matron whose affection for Florence is matched only by that for her suspiciously static dog.

A darker comic edge is provided by Becky Young as Maria, the Spanish speaking maid, who erupts on stage with grumpy force to reluctantly serve her mistress. And Lucinda Toomey as the outraged Mrs Verrinder-Gedge, the only one to speak truth unto power, is an opponent and a force to be reckoned with, a madam in full sail.

The story, as we know, has become a hit film. But go and see it live on stage, for it will delight your heart as it impresses with its dexterity and charm.

​Until December 7. Visit lofttheatrecompany.com or call 01926 830680 to book.