SUMMER Reviews- Page 3

[sdrick]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 6:49pm

Phillytheatreguy10 said: "Didn’t Margaritaville also come from La Jolla?Ashley seems to be trying really hard to cram his 15 min out of that Tony win!"

That is uncalled for.  This is based on nothing except your ugly attempt to be smart and smug.

[sdrick]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 6:56pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "NYTimes by Jesse Green isnegative, saying it "reduces" Donna Summer to make her seem "profoundly inconsequential." It adds to the jukebox musical being the "cockroach of Broadway."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/23/theater/review-summer-the-donna-summer-musical-broadway.html"

I wonder how long he has been saving up that metaphor.  If I were this critic specifically, I wouldn't bring up anything that is creepy, crawly on Broadway . . .

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 6:59pm

I love fun musicals, too- Kinky Boots, Beautiful two of my all-time favorites. But a serious musical is also great- Parade- Fiddler, even MFLady- quality is quality and if it is done well- that is all I ask for at a night in the theater- I will enjoy and treasure it.

[sdrick]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 7:04pm

Phillytheatreguy10 said: ""Yes. But Des McAnuff directsSUMMER, not Ashley"

I'm aware, I was merely associating the two because Ashley is the Artistic Director of La Jolla."

Yes, and he works very hard at it, just as Des did at La Jolla and Stratford.  It's very petty of you to be so dismissive of something you know little about.

[sdrick]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 7:11pm

sdrick said: "Phillytheatreguy10 said: ""Yes. But Des McAnuff directsSUMMER, not Ashley"

I'm aware, I was merely associating the two because Ashley is the Artistic Director of La Jolla."

Yes, and he works very hard at it, just as Des did at La Jolla and Stratford. It's very petty of you to be so dismissive of something you know little about."

I must say, I am disappointed at this board that is usually more discerning and pointed on the actually productions, and not collapsing into personal attacks.  That's what I expect "elsewhere".  It's fine to point out flaws in the productions, and whether or not you had a good experience.  Otherwise, stay in your lane.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 4/29/18 at 10:00pm

From LaChanze's instagram it looks like they are recording an album? Either that or some promo material 

[Emmaloucbway]

Posted: 4/29/18 at 10:16pm

broadwayboy223 said: "From LaChanze's instagramit looks like they are recording an album? Either that or some promo material"

 

I think it is a cast album based off of other posts I’ve seen from a few ensemble members!

[quizking101]

Posted: 5/12/18 at 10:09am

I got to see this last night and I really can't contribute anymore to the negative remarks that have already been made. The book is a dramaturgical nightmare, turning Donna Summer into a scattershot Wikipedia article full of "Gotcha!" tidbits (her sexual abuse by the pastor) and odd marriages of song and life ("Stamp Your Feet" during the cancer scene). Even more so, the dialogue sounded a bit too immersed in the present day, with a lot of wink-and-nods references to the gender pay gap, feminism, and the LGBTQ* community. While these themes undoubtedly were prevalent in Summer's time, the spoken words were so ham-handed and laughable. I expected so much more from Colman Domingo.

My companion for the evening said that they could've stood to expand on many parts of her life and maybe fill 2.5 hours like a typical show instead of a 100 minute rush job.

Granted, the big production numbers served like a defibrilator on the proceedings, including MacArthur Park, Enough is Enough, Hot Stuff, and Last Dance. She Works Hard For The Money was probably the highlight of the night.

The greatest part of this whole show is Ariana DeBose, who proved she is a STAR and totally deserved her Tony nod for all of the energy and effort she put into this. LaChanze was great, but I wasn't as entirely  convinced of her worthiness for a Tony nod (though she made a great case).

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 6/12/18 at 2:57pm

No cast recording for this?

[DCS]

Posted: 6/12/18 at 3:05pm

The cast posted several weeks ago on Twitter that they were in the studio doing their cast recording.  A track from it (She Works Hard For The Money) is included on the Broadway Records Tony 2018 collection and the booklet states that the Summer Original Broadway Cast Recording will be released by Republic Records.  As of now, there is no info on the Republic website so we don't have a release date yet.

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 6/12/18 at 3:08pm

Well, that's amazing!

I can't wait to have LaChanze singing those classics!

[Lot666]

Posted: 6/13/18 at 12:34pm

We saw this recently and really wanted to like it, but were very disappointed. If they cut the run time in half, I seriously think it could find success as part of "Disco Fever" night on a Carnival cruise ship.

The principal vocalists are talented and do the best they can, but some songs are reprised endlessly (e.g., Love to Love You Baby) while others are appallingly truncated (e.g., MacArthur Park) to make room for numbers that few (if any) in the audience have even heard before. 

The biggest problem is the weak book, which really goes off the rails in the second act. Once the "born again christian" story-line starts, it monopolizes the remainder of the show and interest wanes quickly.

The book's treatment of the debt Ms. Summer owed to gay fans for her success is insulting.

Astoundingly, they invested significant effort in replicating the famous Studio 54 lighting columns and mounted them on motorized tracks with three enormous disco balls, but only used this effect once, for about two minutes. A colossal waste.

Updated On: 6/13/18 at 12:34 PM

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 11:41am

I'm so confused. This show is apparently pulling in respectable box office numbers, and the reason for this is being attributed to "word-of-mouth." WHERE is this good word of mouth? I have yet to read one review, from either professional critic or audience member, that has been anything above mediocre.

Should we call SUMMER "critic-proof" at this point?

[RexInLights]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 12:06pm

I saw this last night and it disappointed even my very low expectations. It's truly awful. LaChanze is quite good, and when it's just her belting out these classic songs the show is at its peak. Otherwise it is a dramatically inept mess that I found frequently hilarious for all of the wrong reasons. None of the drama lands because the storytelling and character development is so thin, so rushed, and so facile. The acting of the majority of the main cast is weak, but I mostly blame the writing for that. If there's nothing there there's not a whole lot you can do. The design is so cheap and ugly. None of this works at all. A low point for the jukebox musical, which itself already has many, many low points.

The audience did seem to eat it up, though. Singing along, loudly talking back at the characters, dancing in the aisles. Oy vey. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 1:43pm

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "I'm so confused. This show is apparently pulling in respectable box office numbers, and the reason for this is being attributed to "word-of-mouth." WHERE is this good word of mouth? I have yet to read one review, from either professional critic or audience member, that has been anything above mediocre.

Should we call SUMMER "critic-proof" at this point?"

We went on Saturday night, June 2, and were seated in row L of the center orchestra. Most of the people around us appeared to be in the 50-70 age range (my husband and I are also in our 50s) and, as I alluded to in my post above, many were dressed like they were going to a "Disco Fever" night on a cruise ship. The atmosphere felt really bizarre, like "Julie, your Cruise Director" might appear at any moment. It didn't seem at all like a Broadway show; more like a cheesy costume party at a senior citizens center. 

I believe these people are going back to their 'burbs and telling their friends and neighbors that this is a hoot, but I don't think that pool of patrons is bottomless. Summer may be critic-proof for this summer, but I can't imagine it lasting through the end of the year.

[David10086]

Posted: 7/31/18 at 4:30pm

I finally saw this show this past Sunday afternoon.  Thanks to LaChanze and Ariana DeBose musical talents (Storm Lever was not in the show but her understudy was very good) for saving this show which came across like a high school production on an off-night. The rest of the cast was forgettable to say the least. The story-line was non-existent. And the mezzanine (where I was sitting and had a great seat) was nearly empty for the matinee. (Yet the audience was thrilled - mostly 55+, who were saying they loved the show and wanted to see it again!  ). Yikes! And this is from the same creative team behind 'Jersey Boys' ? 

As a longtime Summer fan, she deserves so much better. Why didn't they use her original musical which she wrote in the 1990s and was trying to get onto B'way ("Ordinary Girl"    ?  One may never know. 

Updated On: 8/3/18 at 04:30 PM

[mamaleh]

Posted: 8/2/18 at 2:34pm

I have to join in with the "nay" chorus.  Even attending via lottery seemed like I paid way too much for such a slapdash mess, even if it did provide the chance to see LaChanze do her thing so beautifully.  Too bad the material was so substandard.  She--and the late Ms. Summer--deserved better. 

[RWPrincess]

Posted: 12/13/18 at 11:11pm

I won the $40 digital lottery today and took my mom with me. My dad came with her, walked up to the box office and paid $99. He ended up 2 rows in front of us in the Orchestra.

About 10 min before the show, I’d say the Orchestra was half empty. But surprisingly it ended up about 80-90% full. Lots of latecomers even after the show started. I’d also say the majority of people in the audience were 50+.

I pretty much agree with the other comments here. I do think this show could have been very promising had the book been written in chronological order of her life. I wasn’t a fan of the minimalistic sets either. Also, I don’t know if it’s because the show is ending but there were multiple times when the choreography wasn’t in sync. And when the 3 Donnas sang together, I felt like they were drowning each other out.

It will be interesting to see how the tour does.