Robert Cary News

The three actresses that share the role of musical icon Donna Summer are Brittny Smith as “Diva Donna,” Charis Gullage as “Disco Donna” and Amahri Edwards-Jones as “Duckling Donna.”

The non-Equity North American Tour of SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical returned to the road with official tour opening in Pittsburgh, PA at the Benedum Center (November 16-21, 2021). The tour will then visit more than 40 cities for the 2021-22 touring season.

While I have my music-nerd quibbles, this is pretty damn good for a non-union touring production.

The North American Tour of SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical will make its Wilmington premiere at The Playhouse on Rodney Square on December 4 & 5, for a two-matinee engagement. Tickets for SUMMER are on sale now and start at $30.

The North American Tour of SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical will make its Detroit premiere at the Fisher Theatre, March 8 – 20, 2022. Tickets start at $39 and will go on sale on Friday, November 26, 2021 online at Ticketmaster.com and in person at the Fisher Theatre Box Office.

Broadway In Boston has announced that the North American Tour of SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical, will make its Boston premiere at Emerson Colonial Theatre.  This limited two-week engagement will play February 22 – March 6, 2022 as part of the upcoming Lexus Broadway In Boston Season. 

Casting has been announced for the North American Tour of SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical, making its premiere engagement at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts on January 5-9.

The North American Tour of SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical will return to the road with technical rehearsals in York, PA at the Pullo Center, followed by an official tour opening night in Pittsburgh, PA at the Benedum Center on November 16, 2021 (November 16-21, 2021). The tour will then visit more than 40 cities for the 2021-22 touring season.

As Carnegie Hall prepares to kick off its much-anticipated 2021–2022 season, the Hall today announced new concert offerings that have been added to its schedule. These events are part of the Hall’s 2021–2022 season line-up that includes more than 100 performances presented on the Hall’s three stages and across New York City.

The African-American Shakespeare Company debuts its new online series of talk-backs in a format remiscent of The Actor's Studio with James Lipton.

Donna Summer Musical is a show with book by Colman Domingo, Robert Cary, and Des McAnuff and music and lyrics by Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte, Paul Jabara, and others, based on the life of Donna Summer. The musical shows the Queen of Disco at three times of her life: Duckling Donna (Amanda Souza) is in her pre-teens, starting out in Boston; Disco Donna (Jeniffer Nascimento), in her late teens and 20s, has her initial success; and Diva Donna (Karin Hils) is in her 50s and at the top of her career. With direction by Miguel Falabella, the show opens at Teatro Santander on March 5.

DPAC has 'Unconditional Lovea' for Donna Summer this week as the National Tour of DONNA: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL is in town. The show uses classic hits of the disco queen like 'Love to Love You Baby' and 'Hot Stuff' to craft a 'concert of a lifetime.' Three women portray Donna at different periods of her life -- Duckling, Disco, and Diva -- to tell how she went from a young girl singing in church in Boston to a top creator of dance floor hits. The show is largely about the adversity that she faced throughout her career, a story that even those familiar with her music may not know.

While Donna Summer may be 'Hot Stuff' when it comes to iconic songwriting and singing, SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL is a lukewarm entry in the genre of biographical jukebox musicals. The musical features many of Donna Summer's notable hits-and this national touring cast has the talent to take them all on-but the storyline gave me whiplash. With a book by Colman Domingo and Robert Cary and direction from Des McAnuff, SUMMER careens between the major events of Donna Summer's life at an often breakneck pace.

First, when there's nothing........just take a famous movie and adapt it for the stage, voilá, you got a musical.

Broadway in Detroit today announced that individual tickets for the Detroit premier of SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical at the Fisher Theatre, June 9 a?" 21, will go on sale Sunday, February 16. 

SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical opens with a swell of music and a chorus full of sequined, big-haired glittered-up dancers who sure can sing. The costumes are dazzling. The strobe lights are electrifying. Everything is loud and large and pulsing and promising. a?oeYou like that modest opening?a?? Diva Donna (Dan'yelle Williamson, one of the three actors who plays Donna) asks the audience outright. a?oeWe just threw it together.a?? It's funny of course, because this is a big production, and nothing is farther from the truth. However...

a?oeSummer, The Donna Summer Musicala?? opened last night, New Year's Eve, at the Paramount like a shiny ball descending on Seattle signifying the new year. But just like the ball dropping and switching from one year to the next, it amounted to very little other than a reason to party. With a book that feels like a story conveyed by a 6-year-old with severe ADHD and staging so bad that it actually made me laugh out loud at one point, this flashy tale of the life of a Disco Diva, filled with mirror balls, strobe lights, and even a car chase on stage, falls squarely into the realm of a?oewhat were they thinking?!a??

The national tour of SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL, a moving tribute to the voice of a generation, is coming to the Golden Gate Theatre December 3 a?" 29, 2019. Go behind the scenes in the video!

Broadway In Chicago has announced that tickets for SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL will go on sale on Friday, December 13.  SUMMER will play Broadway In Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theatre (24 W. Randolph) for a limited two-week engagement February 12-23, 2020.

Full casting has been announced for the North American Tour of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. The three actresses who will play the role of musical icon Donna Summer will be Dan'yelle Williamson as 'Diva Donna,' Alex Hairston as 'Disco Donna' and Olivia Elease Hardy as 'Duckling Donna.'