We tied the knot over ten years ago and thought of ways to celebrate our wedding anniversary this year. After hearing about the musical based on Disco Queen, Donna Summer, we both agreed that would be the perfect way to spend our special day.
The Broadway musical is told through the dramatic lens of her final concert, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. It presents the complexities and conflicts the famed songwriter and singer faced in her meteoric rise and descent. The show features a score with more than 20 of Summer’s classic hits including “Love to Love You, Baby,” “Bad Girls” and “Hot Stuff.”
Even though my husband and I didn’t grow up during the disco era, we weren’t strangers to Summer’s many hits.
There are three different actresses playing the role of Donna Summer. Storm Lever plays “duckling Donna,” Afra hines plays the role of “disco Donna,” and LaChanze is “Diva Donna.”
We arrived at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City about ten minutes early and sat in the orchestra section waiting patiently for the show to begin. After a brief announcement and introduction, the stage erupted with LaChanze singing one of Summer’s popular hits.
She introduces the audience to different points of Donna Summer’s life without intermission. The high energy performance sort of becomes a full on concert topped off with confetti toward the end.
But, the musical goes beyond entertaining the crowd. Whether you’re familiar with Donna Summer or not, you’ll walk away learning something about the disco queen.
5 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Donna Summer
Donna Summer was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines.
She grew up in a religious household and sang in the church with her sisters.
Summer grew up in Boston, but later moved to Germany to pursue music when she was just 17-years-old.
She wrote her own songs and also wrote for other singers as well.
Summer was a painter. In fact, her paintings are also displayed throughout the show.
The musical also focuses on the ups and downs she faced within the music industry, as well as her personal struggles.
The 90 minute musical succeeded at hitting the highlights and lowlights of the Summer’s life without question. However, some may argue that the story becomes confusing because it’s told out of sequence. I agree that it probably would have had more of an impact if it were in chronological order. But honestly, that doesn’t take away from the overall performance.