THE HANGOVER REPORT – The fleet-footed jukebox musical SUMMER is an enjoyable, well-oiled machine

LaChanze and company in "Summer: The Donna Summer Musical" at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

LaChanze and company in “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

Last night, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. The musical is shaped in the same mold as two of Broadway’s more successful jukebox musicals, Jersey Boys and Beautiful (both are still selling tickets years after opening in New York). That is, unlike ABBA’s Mamma Mia! or this season’s Jimmy Buffet musical Escape from Margaritaville – which cobble together silly plots to accommodate some of pop’s most indelible tunes – Summer utilizes Ms. Summer’s songbook to tell the story of the songstress herself, as an artist and as a woman.

What makes Summer unique is its resourceful and effective use of three different actresses to portray the disco queen at different stages of her life. For a jukebox musical, the nonlinear book (by the team of actor Colman Domingo, director Des MacAnuff, and Robert Cary) is relatively ambitious, moving back and forth across time and space with dexterity and concision. If Ms. Summer’s underlying biographical story is less then fully convincing on a large Broadway stage and ultimately runs out of compelling material to fuel the plot (I had similar feelings about the Gloria Estefan musical On Your Feet!), so be it – I still had a fun time at the show.

The production is helmed by veteran director Des MacAnuff, and it’s a treat to see such a well-oiled machine at work. Summer is choreographed by the talented Sergio Trujilo in a manner that keeps the intermissionless musical moving at a fleet-footed pace. As the three Donnas, LaChanze, Ariana DeBose, and Storm Lever are gorgeous women, each with distinctive lungs of steel. I would pay to see the show again just to see and hear them jive to some of discos greatest hits.

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SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL
Broadway, Musical
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
1 hour 45 minutes (without an intermission)
Open run

Categories: Broadway, Theater

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