When Summer: The Donna Summer Musical hit Broadway in 2018, a young actress named Ariana DeBose, who just won an Academy Award for her supporting role in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, took center stage to play Disco Donna.
The character was one of the three incarnations of “The Queen of Disco” featured in the theatrical production. She’s a version of Summer as a teenager and in her early 20s.
The other two main characters are Duckling Donna, who’s in her pre-teens, and Diva Donna, who’s in her 50s.
When asked about the role, which earned DeBose a Tony Award nomination that year, the Afro-Latina actress said that when she first read the script, she could hear Summer in her head. “I could relate to every circumstance on the page,” DeBose told Broadway World. “I was reading the story of a complicated woman, which was exactly the challenge I was looking for.”
DeBose isn’t part of this touring musical, but we’re sure her spirit lives on in the character.
$35-$210, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19-Thursday, April 21, 8 p.m. Friday, April 22, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 23, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 24, Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com.
