“(Jeffrey) Williams, a gifted pianist, is well suited to this role, and he plays quite a bit through the course of the show, noodling stylishly through Tin Pan Alley tunes and excerpts from the more classical repertoire that Jenkins favored (and which also presented her with her stiffest challenge).

“But as winning as Williams is, Ginger Newman is an absolute revelation, inhabiting the Jenkins character with consummate skill and total devotion to the role’s guilelessness and naive self-confidence. Newman is well known as a voice and drama teacher at Belmont and Cumberland universities as well as at University School of Nashville. She’s also toured extensively on cruise ships and performed in legit opera, theater and concert venues, but she’s been absent from Nashville’s theatrical circuit for approximately a decade. When director Richard Northcutt suggested mounting Souvenir, producer Mark Cabus responded, “Yes, but only if Ginger Newman plays the role.”

“The casting is a huge payoff. It’s impressive just how badly Newman, a standout vocalist, manages to sing throughout the production. Her performance is a marvel of musical control and self-awareness. Outfitted in Ann McBride’s striking costumes—including a series of wildly comic Act 2 getups that Jenkins dons for numbers such as Gounod’s “Ave Maria”—Newman evokes both tangible pathos and an indelible heroism. She also serves up a delicious vocal surprise to conclude this evening of engrossing and genuinely affecting theater.

“Brandon Wilson’s set, featuring a stylized archway that frames the action, adds a fillip to our view of Jenkins’ music parlor that, in a way, symbolizes the unusual adventure within.”

Link to the full review: http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Arts/Theater/2007/12/13/Double_Your_Pleasure/index.shtml