San Diego Reader

Before it had a name, Florence Foster Jenkins was a cult classic. The wealthy eccentric sang so badly, but with such bliss, that her small, devoted following included Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. She became, says playwright Peter Quilter, "a symbol to all those who dream, but never dared." Her story, however, doesn't make for much of a play. Glorious is a one-joke show. Once you've heard Susan Denaker sing, you get the point; then again, and again. Denaker has a knack for singing horribly (no mean feat: she just misses notes and ping-pongs through Mozart's "Der Holle Rache" with ear-splitting panache), but has almost nothing, other than a rose-colored attitude, to work with. David McBean is elegant and funny as the pianist Cosme McMoon (much of the show's humor comes from his reactions, a tactic that grows old before intermission); and versatile Annie Hinton plays an assemblage of supporting characters decked in Renetta Lloyd's apt period costumes.

January 16 Through February 7