'Souvenir' cast member's injury cancels shows at Jungle Theater

"Souvenir" star Claudia Wilkens fell during a performance, and broke her elbow.

Last update: November 21, 2008 - 11:37 PM

The Jungle Theater has canceled its weekend performances of the play "Souvenir." Actor Claudia Wilkens, who portrays singer Florence Foster Jenkins, fell on stage at the end of the first act Thursday night and suffered a broken elbow. Margo Gisselman, Jungle executive director, said Wilkens was hospitalized and will require surgery on the fracture. Gisselman said the theater hopes that Wilkens will be able to return on Tuesday. "We're altering costumes, figuring that she's going to be wearing a cast," Gisselman said. There currently is no understudy. Ticket holders should call the Jungle box office at 612-822-7063.

"Souvenir" tells the story of Jenkins, whose notoriously bad singing drew thousands of fans in the 1930s and '40s.

GRAYDON ROYCE