`SOUVENIR' STAR SO GOOD AT BEING BAD.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

The voice is strong, overbearing even, tripping its jagged way up and down the scales, being ever so careful to avoid striking a correct note. When she opens her mouth, this diva is positively vinegar to the ears.

And yet, people paid by the thousands. To see the spectacle. To get in on the joke. Florence Foster Jenkins took her cat-disemboweling atonality to record labels, even to Carnegie Hall. How in the world, we ask, could people find something this sour to be so sweet?

Thereby hangs the conundrum of ``Souvenir,'' an amusing but puzzling little riff on love of music and the price of devotion. Stephen Temperley's two-character play -- imported from Broadway, with cast intact -- is a bona fide star vehicle for Judy Kaye and Donald Corren. And if you can't always hear its, er, music, that's probably because the people surrounding you are laughing so loudly.

What's making us laugh is essentially a one-joke evening. Make that two:

1) Kaye sings atrociously, but with comic exuberance, and, 2) Corren (playing accompanist Cosmo McMoon) reacts in arch, bitchy horror.

The real Florence Foster Jenkins turned herself into something of a cult figure. Convinced she was a gifted coloratura soprano, the eccentric Pennsylvania-born socialite gave regular recitals that routinely filled the houses despite universally awful acclaim.

Using McMoon as his explanation-happy mouthpiece, Temperley suggests that Jenkins listened to the melodious notes in her head, not to her own shriekings, and not -- apparently -- to the sound of audiences laughing or jeering. Confronted by McMoon, Jenkins brushes off any and all detractors with, ``It's you who are off. There's nothing wrong with my ear.''

Precisely how ridiculous Temperley expects us to find this cuckoo bird is the million-dollar question. Kaye, an enormously appealing actress (and, in real life, quite a skilled soprano), plays her with a dizzy, oblivious glaze. Whenever Jenkins sings, Kaye throws in a series of gazes or performance tics. Basically, the lady exists to sing. Badly. And when she gets to wear costumes for the infamous Carnegie Hall concert, all bets are off.

Kaye even negotiates the difficult -- and mawkishly written -- terrain when Jenkins takes some hits.

McMoon, as pianist/narrator, progresses from being horrified to taking the role of -- God help him -- protector. By signing on with Jenkins (who paid well), McMoon quickly learns he has signed away his artistic soul. Corren, who can spin comic gold out of sarcasm and irony, deftly balances Kaye's exuberance. And, with a strong assist from music supervisor Tom Helm, the actor handles the piano duties skillfully as well.

Unless you count those tacky costumes in the Carnegie Hall sequence, ``Souvenir'' isn't really building toward anything. McMoon spouts on about the nature of artistic taste (Salieri in Peter Schaffer's ``Amadeus'' comes to mind), but you get the sense that the playwright and director Vivian Matalon are more concerned with amassing laughs than with peeking into poor Jenkins' soul. Or into McMoon's, either, for that matter.

Fair enough. Kaye demonstrates that it's no simple assignment to be good at singing badly. Laugh at her or throw roses at her feet, this time around, the lady's got a way with discord.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

SOUVENIR - Three stars

Where: Brentwood Theatre, 11301 Wilshire Blvd., Brentwood.

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; through Nov. 12.

Tickets: $35 to $60. [phone] or visit www.BrentwoodTheatre.com

In a nutshell: Judy Kaye is remarkably good at singing awfully.