Where is the SUMMER Previews Thread?

Did it get deleted?!

Updated On: 4/11/18 at 12:47 PM

It appears to have been deleted. Too bad, because Whizzer's analysis was very good. This show is a very grim slog through bad writing and general ineptitude.

This board sucks now. 

Mods? Hello?

It's disappointing for many reasons, but especially the fact that Summer had been working on a musical of her life since the mid-90s. There was a story, original music, and her catalog.But no producers at the time. Why not put that on the stage?"

This is exactly what I've been saying ever since this project was first announced. Donna's original musical, "Ordinary Girl" needed a really strong bookwriter and a good director to get it to the right place, but it would've been incredible. The music I have heard that was written for that show is just as good as her biggest hits. My favorite song from the show, My Life, is absolutely phenomenal and beats out many of Donna's standards on my list of faves (and I am a big Summer fan)! She performed an abbreviated version in her Live and More... Encore! concert in the late 90s (it's also on the DVD of this performance) and the Junior Vasquez remix can easily be found on the interwebs, if anyone is interested in checking it out.

It ran about 100 minutes last week with no intermission. But felt much longer.

newintown said: "It ran about 100 minutes last week with no intermission. But felt much longer."

Thanks and yikes! Considering I'm under the weather, I have a feeling tonight is going last as long as Donna Summer's actual career.

David10086 said: "So has this show gotten any better as we get closer to the official opening date?"

I’m not sure there’s much saving this one. Disco was a counter-culture movement. This show has eliminated all of that and replaced it with church. To me, that elimination of it prevents it from a story about a pioneer of the disco era.

But of course, bridge-and-tunnel moms in the audience went wild because they loved the music. So who knows where it’ll end up.

David10086 said: "So has this show gotten any better as we get closer to the official opening date? I've been wanting to see this since it was first announced two years ago, for the LaJolla Playhouse in 2017. Now....I'm not sure."

If what I saw Thursday night is proof of progress, then no. Because it was a colossal disappointment.

When I wasn't busy having to endure all the middle-aged housewives coming in half in the bag with their 3rd sippy cup of wine given explicit permission by LaChanze at the top of the show to sing along, I was busy trying to figure out how they constructed this show out of such a terrible book. By some miracle, I actually starting getting into it towards the end, but even though it sounded and looked cool throughout, and there were a couple of standout numbers, I was just getting progressively frustrated through most of it. But LaChanze and especially Ariana DeBose were fantastic. But I have to go back to the the book. It was awful. I had to go home and Wikipedia to figure out what actually happened with everything they brought up, they dropped storylines left and right!

But listen, people around me were digging it, and since it's mostly sung through, there's always a good song, so it's distracting for people that just want to have a concert with some dialogue in between. But good luck having any sort of emotion or clarity through any of it. All I know it was so smart to open before The Cher Show, because it can't possibly be any worse than this.

dramagoer said: "Does the musical use This Time I Know It’s For Real???"

I believe someone posted a full song list somewhere around here, but I'm pretty sure this song is not in it.

I saw Bands Visit and Spongebob yesterday and I can't remember which one it was in, but they had a section about "Summer!" and apparently the director for Summer was in talks to direct Ordinary Girl when Donna was still pursuing it. My question is why did we end up with this hot mess when he could have still done Ordinary Girl with some of Donna's original music. It just seems like a waste and cop out to make a cheap messy concert bio musical.