Meryl To Play Florence Foster Jenkins?
British sources are reporting that Meryl Streep has been talking to director Stephen Frears about starring in a movie as Florence Foster Jenkins, the American society woman whose atrocious attempt to sing opera gained her a place in the camp pantheon. (This would seem a strange career move for Meryl: she’s currently in the middle of playing Maria Callas for Mike Nichols in an HBO adaptation of Terrence McNally’s “Master Class.” Has Meryl entered the Decaying Diva portion of her career?) Jenkins is a favorite subject for playwrights. She was the main character in the 2005 Broadway play, “Souvenir,” where she was played marvelously by Judy Kaye. There was also the British play “Glorious,” in which Maureen Lipman did the so-called singer. That one had the great Caruso visiting Florence backstage after one of her concerts and exclaiming: ‘I’ve never heard anything like it!’ She took it as a compliment.
