Florence Foster Jenkins
publication date: Thursday, August 22, 2019 (part of Summer 2019)
category: Theater
clue: Sometimes you love something so much that you kill it. She loved opera singing. And the opera loved her back.
explanation: Foster Jenkins was a New York socialite who became a fan and patron of opera companies. Although she was skilled with the piano, her singing was extremely poor, earning her a reputation as the worst amateur opera singer who ever lived, though she became a popular cult figure. She died shortly after a widely-mocked performance at Carnegie Hall that was the first time she learned that she had become a joke. more…
intended difficulty: very hard
solved by: Russ Wilhelm and Matthew Preston
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