Donna Summer: She could sing anything, anywhere, with anyone, at any time.

[AUG 12] Greetings all!  Ok let's get the bad (but not unexpected) chart news out of the way. Hot Stuff 2018 has fallen off the Billboard Dance Club Play chart for the week of August 11.  But it had a good run so I'm not too disappointed.  Now moving to the iTunes charts, On The Radio is still doing well.  As I write this it's number 5. No sign of the Dance Collection at the moment though.

[AUG 12] Here's an oldie but goodie -  the Bette Midler Blog, Bootleg Betty, had posted a photo and an audio file of Donna and Bette Midler doing Hot Stuff at the 2003 Hulaween event. The audio quality is about what you expect from a concert bootleg, but it's a lot of fun to hear.  :-)  (Shout out to Mister D - the host of Bootleg Betty!) Oh and on a side note I found that right clicking was my friend - at least in my Firefox browser. It provides interesting menu options for collectors of digital things....

[AUG 12] In musical news,  lets get the grosses out of the way first. For the week of August 5 Summer: The Donna Summer Musical was  down to 679,485.  Actually, all but 6 of the currently running shows were down this week by varying amounts - including Hamilton!

[AUG 12] Broadwayworld.com has posted a favorable review of the Summer cast album.  They do mention the one notible flaw being that the album gives you all the music, but none of the story.  Just a reminder, the cast album is available now for download from Amazon and all your favorite music sources, but if you want an actual CD, you have to wait until August 24.

[AUG 12] The cast of Summer made an appearance at Broadway In Bryant Park the other day.  Their performance is available in full on Facebook.  You'll get to see Ariana DeBose, Storm Lever and Christina Acosta Robinson stepping in for LaChanze (who may have been on vocal rest that day), and of course members of the ensemble. They did MacArthur Park, She Works Hard For The Money, Hot Stuff and Last Dance. Great job everyone!

[AUG 12] And speaking of Ariana DeBose, her Hot Stuff Vlog episode 5 is up. Tis week has some more backstage hijinks, and the closing party for A Bronx Tale. (Ariana was part of the original Broadway cast of that show.)

[AUG 12] Meanwhile, Storm Lever as on Broadway World's Backstage Bite making ... wait for it... Hot Stuffed Peppers. It's not just cooking - there is also a bunch of talking and (especially) laughing.  :-)  The video is here, and the recipe is here.

[AUG 12] Bruce Sudano fans - he's been teasing a new single, and now it's here! The song is called Forbidden Fruit and you can download it at Amazon, iTunes and other music vendors. And you can head over to YouTube to watch the official music video. And if you are wondering who that is singing with Bruce - her name is Dina Regine.

[AUG 12] Bruce's new single is accompanied by an article in Billboard in which he talks about the song, the video, and getting back to writing now that the musical is up and running.  The new single also means a newly revamped website to go with it, so go check out Bruce's site.

[AUG 12] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with a new fan video by our own Suecase Hall for the My Man Medley. And since that brings us to the Live & More album, let's find some more clips to go with it like the promo for the album, the actual TV commercial as aired, Mimi's Song from The Tonight Show, Heaven Knows from The Midnight Special, and the full 1979 concert from Japanese TV (which is as close as we have gotten to the actual full Live & More concert on video.)

[AUG 5]  Happy Sunday all! I guess we should start with the charts. For the week of August 4 Hot Stuff 2018 slips to #40 on the Billboard Dance Club Play Songs chart.  (On a side note Diana Ross I'm Coming Out/Upside Down 2018 is at the #1 spot I guess proving that great tracks can always come back.  :-) ) Now if you go over to the iTunes Dance albums charts - On The Radio is still hanging around the top spots. As of this moment it's #3, but it's been #1 it's been #2... people are buying it.  :-) And it's not alone on the chart, The Dance Collection has turned up and as I write this, it's at #23. I would say the Queen is back.... but she never really went away.

[AUG 5] In other Billboard news, the magazine has put together their Top 100 Artists of all time to honor the Hot 100 turning 60. They present it as a video (counting backwards of course!) If you don't want to watch the whole thing, then just jump to #31 to see Donna.  In an article that just lists the top 60 female artists, Donna comes in at #11. They also have an article about the Top Producers in the Hot  100 and yes, Giorgio Moroder made the list.

[AUG 5] Moving on to the musical, last week's grosses are in and Summer is down a tiny bit to $798,171.

[AUG 5]  Episode 4 of Arian DeBose's Hot Stuff vlog is up.  This time she takes us on a backstrage tour and SPOILER ALERT - there is footage of rehearsal for one of the more dramatic moments in the show. If you want to avoid the spoiler, skip the part between 1:08 (when she shows  Aaron Krohn backstage) and 2:11 (when she cuts back to her dressing room where you can see a sped up version of Ariana tucking her long braids under a wig cap.

[AUG 5] Also in the  land of social media, if you are on Instagram make sure you follow DonnaSummerBway. They periodically turn over the feed to a cast member for their Instagram stories, and you pretty much have to catch it when it happens because the stories go away after a period of time.

[AUG 5] As you know, the pair appeared with Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors on Jimmy Kimmel's Show last week.  And of course the video is available to see online.  :-) This is their performance of Ring The Bells. And then there is a clip of an unbroadcast performance of Goodbye Road.

[AUG 5] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I'm going to pick some clips from the Bad Girls album because 2 interesting covers came my way. The first is a jazzy cover of Hot Stuff by Judith Owens that comes with a pretty silly video.  ;-) The other is a cover of Bad Girls by Liza Minnelli.  What can I say? This one is vintage Liza, so if you like her then you will probably love this clip, and if you don't ... well... Moving on to the real Donna, we have Hot Stuff live in 2008, Bad Girls from a 1979 Tonight Show,  Dim All The Lights live from 1995, and Sunset People from the 1980 TV special.

[AUG 1] It's a new month and time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we explore I'm A Rainbow.

[JUL 28] Happy Saturday all!  Let's start with the charts. I left you last time with Hot Stuff 2018 at #11 on the July 21 Billboard Hot Dance Club Chart and at #48 on the Dance/ Electronic Songs Chart. Unfortunately for the week of July 28, it slips to #31 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and it fell off top 50 on the Dance/Electronic songs chart. It was fun while it lasted.  :-) Also if you look at iTunes' Top 40 dance albums chart, On The Radio has been doing surprisingly well.  :-)  It was at #2 the other day, and at this moment it is at #4.

[JUL 28]  Johnnyswim fans set your DVRs!  The duo will be performing with Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors on Jimmy Kimmel  on Wednesday August 1.  The show airs at 11:35pm on ABC and of course you can watch  online at some point after the show airs.

[JUL 28] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his latest Live From The Couch on Facebook. This one is called Nothing's More Important. (Somehow I don't think it's a coincidence that this particular song turned up right about the time of Donna and Bruce's wedding anniversary.) Bruce is also teasing a new single on Instagram.

[JUL 28] Ok - time for musical news.  :-)  First up is episode 3 of Ariana DeBose's vlog, Hot Stuff.  In it, she and Storm Lever hit New Jersey for Broadway On The Boardwalk. They have clips of their performances - which because it's just the 2 of them, are a bit different from what you see in the musical. (For instance, Storm tackles Hot Stuff and Ariana sings She Works Hard For The Money.) She also asks some of the cast about the new cast album.

[JUL 28] Moving to the grosses for the week  -- this week is really weird!  Summer: The Musical is down a little bit to $800,001 for the week of July 22.  That's not the weird thing. If you scroll down the list to Hello Dolly, that show is up by OVER a million dollars  compared to last week.  Now I know they are probably having a burst of sales because Better Midler is back to close out the show August 25, but holy cow - they are up by more than their usual weekly gross! It's a wonder any other shows were able to sell anything with all that interest in Hello Dolly.  LOL

[JUL 28] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start off with a Dutch clip I was just sent of Spring Affair. (Sorry, the quality is pretty rough in places - clearly it came from a decaying VHS tape. ) Sticking to 1976, we also have a clip of Lady Of The Night (with Donna in the Love To Love You album dress),  Could It Be Magic from German TV,  Love To Love You  from the Midnight Special, and  Wasted from a TV appearance (with lots of bubbles).

[JUL 20] Greetings all and happy Friday! Yes I'm here a bit early for the update because we have breaking news! The cast album for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical just became available for streaming or downloading on Spotify and iTunes. The CD will be available starting August 24 at places like Amazon. (But you can pre-order it now.)  Broadwayworld and Billboard both have article announcing the digital release of the album and Billboard is streaming the full track for Hot Stuff. Now those of you who haven't seen the show yet (or who can't get to NYC to see it), might be wondering why the songs are not in chronological order and when you listen you might be wondering about some changes you will find in a couple of songs. (For instance, Dim All The Lights is slowed down - but not in the Rod Stewart "unplucked" way Donna would do it sometimes.) The reason is that the songs are used to tell the story - well except for Last Dance which is just a good time to close the show.  :-)  For those who are OK with spoilers - check out my report from the show to see how each song is used.

[JUL 20] Oh let me take this opportunity to congratulate  the company of Summer on their 100th performance!  Great job guys and here's to the next 100!  :-)

[JUL 20] Episode 2 of Ariana DeBose's vlog, Hot Stuff, is up on YouTube. This week she goes behind the scenes at Summer and at Broadway Barks. And again she invites viewers to tweet things they'd like to see in the vlog.  You never know, she might like YOUR idea...   :-)

[JUL 20] Looking at the Broadway grosses for the week of 7/15, Summer has picked up a little of what they lost last week. Sales were up to $814,286. We'll see what happens when the next sales figures are released on Monday.  :-)

[JUL 20] On to the real Donna Summer.  :-) Let's look at the Billboard charts. Last week Hot Stuff 2018 was at #8 on the July 14 Billboard Dance Club Chart and #45 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart.  For the week of July 21,  it drops to #11 on the Dance Club Chart, and back down to #48 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

[JUL 20] Bruce Sudano fans - catch him on the radio with Alan Ross on Joy 94.5 in Australia.  You guys might remember Alan Ross - he's been a friend to Donna fans for quite awhile now. He's the guy who brought us our first listen to the whole Crayons album... OMG that was 10 years ago!  Wow - time has flown!  Anyway, Bruce will be on Sunday July 21 at 7 AM Australian Eastern Time.  You can convert the time to your specific location here,  but to give you a rough idea, it works out to  Saturday at 5 PM in New York, and Saturday at 10 PM in London.

[JUL 20] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Hmmm - what should we look at this week. I know - it was Bruce and Donna's wedding anniversary this week, let's have some clips of them performing together.  So here is Donna and Bruce unplugged on  Regis and Kathie Lee, live in concert with Worth The Wait, Donna with all the Brooklyn Dreams on the Midnight Special, Donna and Bruce on BBC Radio with So This Is Lonely, Bruce (with Donna on backing vocals) on True Love, Bruce's speech at Donna's Rock Hall Of Fame induction,  Bruce talking about writing Starting Over Again and Donna singing it.

[JUL 15] Greetings all! Let's start with the news many of you were waiting for a way to buy Summer: The Musical merchandise online!  The Donna Summer Musical website has launched an online shop here with most of the items you can get at the theater.  :-) Happy shopping everyone!

[JUL 15]  Moving on to the theater grosses for the week ending 7/8, sales were down quite a bit to $743.385.  I'm assuming that has something to do with the July 4 holiday, but I have to admit that drop hurts to look at.  Fingers crossed that the numbers will be better tomorrow.

[JUL 15] Also in musical news, Ariana DeBose is now vlogging for Broadway.com.  You can see her getting her feet wet here in episode 1.  Look for episode 2 to drop on Tuesday. And if you are on Twitter and you have ideas of things you would like to see in the vlog, send Ariana a tweet.

[JUL 15] Moving on to Donna, we have some interesting chart news, When I left you last time, Hot Stuff 2018 was #6 on the Billboard Dance Club Chart for the week of July 7 and #49 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart. For the week of July 14, the song slips to #8 on the Dance Club Chart, but on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart, it bounces back up a little to #45.  :-)

[JUL 15] Dutch fans can look forward to Thank God It's Donna - a tribute to Donna starring Carolina Dijkhuizen accompanied by the Gare Du Nord Orchestra. Look for thta February 1, 2019 in 30 Dutch theaters. If you read Dutch, here is the article from De Telegraaf.

[JUL 15] Johnnyswim fans - Sojo.net has an interview with Johnnyswim and Drew Holcomb to promote their EP, Goodbye Road.

[JUL 15] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do some live covers this week.  So we have Donna's version of Pearls by Sade,  Donna's cover of Natural Woman (audio only), Donna's cover of Nights In White Satin, her cover of Superstar, her cover of New York Minute, her cover of Send In The Clowns, her cover of Celebrate Me Home, and finally The Impossible Dream.

[JUL 8] Happy Sunday all!  I guess we should start with the charts. When I left you last time, Hot Stuff 2018 was #1 on the Billboard Dance Club chart for June 30 and #27 on the Dance Electronic Songs chart for that same week. For the week of July 7, the song slips to #6 on the Dance Club Chart and to #49 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

[JUL 8] Udiscovermusic.com has an article about the success of Hot Stuff 2018. (On a side note - I really hate that word "posthumous".  Sigh.)

[JUL 8]  Over on Facebook, Robert Grant (Omega Red) posted video highlights from the Roller Disco Party in Boston last month. Looks like fun!

[JUL 8] Moving to Broadway, the grosses for  the week of July 1 are out. Summer: The Musical took in  $949,959 - its first week below the million mark since April. Don't freak out over 1 low week though.  Sales figures on Broadway can vary quite a bit due to many factors. (Just wait until winter - one bad storm can crash the numbers for all the shows!)

[JUL 8] Look for Disco Donna Ariana DeBose to vlog for Broadway.com starting July 10.  They are calling the vlog Hot Stuff (naturally!  lol) and there will be a new vlog every Tuesday for 8 weeks. If you have never seen any of the Broadway.com vlog,  basically they are all short  videos (10 minutes or so) with a star from one of the current shows showing the behind the scenes stuff from the show. You might see rehearsals, pieces on makeup or costumes,  a piece on some special event the cast is doing - whatever. I've seen some for other shows and they can be interesting, and sometimes funny.  And I can tell you that Ariana seems to really enjoy doing social media so I'm sure her vlog will be a lot of fun. She's done this before too - they had her vlog when she was in A Bronx Tale.  :-)

[JUL 8] The July issue of O (Oprah's magazine) has a photo of Gayle King pointing to the  Summer: The Musical sign in NYC. I haven't seen it myself yet, but I'm told its on the second or third page with a little blurb accompanying the photo.

[JUL 8] Johnnyswim fans - the Augusta Chronicle has an article  promoting their upcoming show with Drew Holcomb. And Connect Savannah has an interview promoting the  upcoming show there.

[JUL 8] And I think that brings us to YouTube. Let me explain something first. I happened to run into an old broadcast of American Top 40 this weekend. It was  special edition from the July 4th weekend in 1979 where they were counting  down the top 40 disco songs  to hit the pop charts  from "the last 5 years."  Donna made that countdown 5 times, so this week I am going to count down those 5 songs.  (The whole list is here.) So starting off the countdown we have Love To Love You at #40.  Then at #37 we have Last Dance, and at #31 we have I Feel Love.  Hot Stuff came in at #21. (Don't forget this was still early days for the Bad Girls album - the title track hadn't peaked on the charts yet and Dim All The Lights hadn't been released as a single yet. Hot Stuff had only just reached its peak and still had more weeks to go on the charts. If they has made this chart even a couple of weeks later, Hot Stuff would have come in higher.) Finally at #12 we had MacArthur Park.

[JUL 1] Greetings all! Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends and Happy (almost) Independence Day to my American friends! It is a new month so you know what that means - time for a new Summer Fever Pick! This month we re-examine start of the Geffen years with the release of The Wanderer.  :-)

[JUL 1] Let's start off with Billboard Magazine tonight.  The Chartbeat column has a whole article about Hot Stuff 2018 hitting #1 on the Dance Club Chart.  And speaking of charts, when I left you last week, Hot Stuff 2018 was #1 on the June 30 Dance Club  Chart and #24 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for June 23.  This week it slips  to #27 on the  Dance/Electronic Songs  Chart for  June 30. And unfortunately my sneaky trick for looking ahead a week on the  Dance Club charts has failed me - but I suspect that we have lost the #1 spot.  :-(

[JUL 1] As you know Boston has it's annual Donna Summer Day Roller Disco party.  Masslive.com has photos from the event - maybe you will spot yourself if you were there?  :-)

[JUL 1] Ralphi Rosario responded on Facebook (in a closed group)  to lots of inquiries he was getting about a version of Heaven Knows he played at Pride in NYC. Here's what he said: "Good day Donna fans - :-) I’m reading all the inquiring posts - thanks for sharing :-) The “heaven knows” version you heard at pride island NYC - was actually debuted at the palm springs t dance/white party like 4 years ago - since that time I’ve also reconstructed “bad girls” “Macarther Park” recently “Hotstuff” & the rarest one “one of a kind” - “kind” had additional lyrics she sung that never made it on record!!!! unfortunately they’re not commercially available & I hold much respect for the master holders of her works - maybe one day if all the logistics line up - they’ll be available - but for now you’ll be def hear me playing them out from time to time :-) much love to all her fans!!!
She was a mentor; icon & it was indeed a pleasure to work for her :-)
I miss her dearly - but at least technology has helped me keep her music & legacy alive EVERY TIME I play for the masses :-)

Ralphi Rosario"

[JUL 1] Moving on to the musical... the grosses for the week of June 24 are up again. That week they took in $1,033,008.

[JUL 1] Storm Lever (Duckling Donna) is getting her chance in the spotlight these days.  Broadwayworld.com has named her the Debut Of The Month. Broadway.com's Live  at Five team featured an interview with Storm on a recent vlog episode.

[JUL 1] The Improper Theater website did a recap on the Chita Rivera Awards.  There's nothing there we don't already know, but they titled the article "Donna Summer Musical Tops Chita Rivera Broadway, Off-Broadway Awards".  :-) They have a photo gallery but I didn't see Summer represented there.

[JUL 1] Bustle.com posted the 20 Celebrity Outfits from June 2018 that their fashion editor can't stop thinking about. Scroll down to about the third photo and you will see Brooklyn Sudano on the Tony Red Carpet.  :-)

[JUL 1] Bruce Sudano fans - he posted a couple of videos this week.  The first is a repost of a live video of It Ain't Cool.  And the other is a new Live From The Couch. It's a work in progress called Up In Smoke.  It's not often that an artist lets you hear something that's unfinished.  It will be interesting to have this to compare to the finished version one day.  It's a rare peek into the creative process (not to mention a tantalizing tease of the final version of the song.) .  :-)

[JUL 1] OK. I think that brings us to YouTube.  I guess in honor of the upcoming July 4 holiday we should pick some songs that fit with that theme.  Let's start with God Bless America. Then we have the Star Spangled Banner, and Livin In America (from Reagan's 1985 innauguration). For something more fun we have Donna performing MacArthur Park and Last Dance live on The Today Show in 1999 - right before July 4. You can actually see a giant Uncle Sam dancing at some point. And finally a liveandmore video for Let There Be Peace just because I think it's something we all need to hear from time to time.

[JUN 24] Happy Sunday all! Happy (day after) Donna Summer Day Boston and Happy Pride NYC! Let's start off with the charts. When I left you last week, Hot Stuff 2018 was #2 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart for June 23 and #30 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for June 16.  Well the climb  isn't over - on the June 23 Hot Dance/ Electronic Songs chart it hits #24. And on the Dance Club Songs chart for the week of  June 30 ..... we have a #1 hit!  :-) That is Donna's second posthumous number 1. (The other one was MacArthur Park 2013). I said it before - just call it the Donna Summer chart.  LOL

[JUN 24] The On The Radio pink vinyl edition is officially out now and you can grab a copy at Amazon. It looks nice.  :-)

[JUN 24] Boston had it's annual Donna Summer Day roller disco party and it looks like it was a blast! (As usual - Omega Red and crew know how to throw a party.  :-) ) Instagram user lishjoy has some photos and video from the  event.

[JUN 24] Let's turn to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  For the week of June 17 it grossed $1,012,957. That's down from last week but I'm sure it will go up again.  People will be heading to NYC for their summer vacations and they will want to DANCE!  :-) By the way, if you want to have a copy of the Pride version of the Playbill - better head to the theater this week. I believe it goes back to normal for July.

[JUN 24] Johnnyswim fans - the duo starts touring again June 28 n Little Rock and they keep ongoing until October. Check out the list to find a show near you. (And if you aren't following them already - check out the Johnnyswim Instagram page.  They gave Joaquin a haircut - no more baby curls! He's still adorable though.  :-) )

[JUN 24] And speaking of Instagram, Vienna Dohler has just started a new page for her musical endeavors. It's only got a couple of posts right now, but I expect it will grow.  :-)

[JUN 24] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some number 1 songs in honor of Donna's chart success this week.  So first up is Hot Stuff (Ralph Rosario and Erick Ibiza 2018 mix). (Hot Stuff 2018 is number 1 now on the Dance Club Songs chart, but it was also a chart topper back in the day on a couple of charts.)  Then we have Bad Girls (also a chart topper back in the day on several charts), She Works  Hard For The Money (#1 R&B song), I Will Go With You , To Paris With Love , Fame (The Game),  and Melody Of Love - all #1 Dance Club songs.  There are plenty of other number ones out there too - especially from the early days of the dance charts where you have listings like Once Upon A Time all cuts.  :-)

[JUN 17] Happy Sunday all! And Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there no matter your age, marital status, or gender! Anyone can be a father - it takes someone special to be a Dad (or Pop or Papa or any other term of endearment you can think of.  :-)

[JUN 17] OK, so the Tonys happened last week. Unfortunately, Summer didn't win any (And The Band's Visit won everything - even categories that don't exist LOL). But Here is the clip you al want to see -  Mimi, Brooklyn and Amanda introducing the performance by Summer: The Musical. It's on Facebook - the YouTube clip cuts off the intro and I KNOW you guys want to see Donna's girls!  :-) I should mention that Last Dance was staged differently for the Tony's that it is for the actual show owing to the different stage setup and the need to play to the cameras. (Other non-Donna highlights - for me anyway - were the kids from the  Margery Stoneman Douglas High School drama club singing Seasons Of Love. It brought the house to tears!. And  believe it or not - the performance from Spongebob Squarepants.  The guy was tap dancing with 4 feet!  No matter what you think of the idea of a Spongebob musical, you HAVE to see the 4 footed tap dance! ) Getting back to  the Summer part of the Tonys - I was thrilled to see a commercial for Summer: The Musical on CBS shortly before the Tony broadcast started.  Entertainment Tonight did a Facebook live from the red carpet. Skip to about 1:02 for some familiar faces. (That's 1 hour and 2 minutes.) Also, I listened to the SiriusXM On Broadway broadcast Tony night while the Tony's aired, and the deejays there couldn't say enough nice things about the musical! They called it a hit (which I think is a big deal coming from Broadway people) and one of the hosts said she cried when she saw the show. When the cast album comes out - they will be playing it. I guarantee it.  :-)

[JUN 17] I also found out from the On Broadway hosts that there is a  2018 Tony Awards Season compilation CD out with songs from many of the shows that were on Broadway this season.  It includes She Works Hard For The Money from the cast of  Summer.  :-)  On Broadway played that track Tony night and they played it again yesterday afternoon.  The album is available at Amazon - but only as a CD.

[JUN 17] While we are talking musical news, The NY Post just published an article about Diva musicals on Broadway.  (We have Summer of course, there is a Cher musical coming later this year, and a Tina Turner musical currently playing the West  End in London that may be looking to come to Broadway too.) Keep in mind that the Post was one of the newspapers that trashed the show and now they are saying:  "Critics threw rocks at “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” but so far the dents are minor. The production, starring LaChanze, is grossing more than $1 million a week and has racked up advance ticket sales of $12 million.

Add to that the (expensive) sippy cups of wine that women in the mood to party are buying before, during and after the show, and “Summer” is shaping up to be a nice little earner for its backers." 

Hamptons-Magazine.com also had a favorable blurb about the show. (I'm linking to the Google cache of the page because for some reason I couldn't get the regular link to load tonight.)

[JUN 17] So let's talk grosses. For the week of June 10, sales for Summer The Musical are up to 1,097,434 making that week the 3rd highest grossing week for the show. You can compare it to the other shows currently on Broadway here.   :-)

[JUN 17] Moving on to the real Donna Summer, let's see where Hot Stuff 2018 is. When I left you last week, it was #4 for the June 16 Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and #37 for the June 9 Billboard Hot Dance/ Electronic Songs chart.  For the week of June 16, the song climbs to #30 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.  And on the June 23 Dance Club Songs chart, we have a #2 hit!  :-)

[JUN 17] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is a fan video by our own Suecase Hall celebrating the musical. Then let's do some of the longer interviews. So we have the 2004 Lifetime Intimate Portrait, 1996 A&E's Biography, 1999 VH1's Behind The Music, a 1978 interview with Rona Barrett, 2008 On Time TV,  and a 1994 VH1 interview parts one and two.

[JUN 8] Happy Friday all! This update is early because I have plans for tomorrow and because I want to give the Tony Awards my full attention Sunday.  :-)  Speaking of which - the show airs Sunday at 8PM on CBS from 8 to 11 PM Eastern AND Pacific. (Pacific will be on a tape delay so if you are planning to watch and want to avoid spoilers - stay away from social media in the house before broadcast.  LOL) There will also be coverage on TonyAwards.com. If you have SiriusXM Radio, On Broadway (ch 72) always does something on Tony night before and during the telecast. Internationally, check out this partial list of viewing options from TonyAwards.com. I'm sure Playbill and BroadwayWorld will also have some sort of coverage that night as well.  At the very least they will have coverage the next day. And I strongly suspect that I will have Facebook open while I watch, so I might have things to say during the night too.  I'm going to try to listen to SiriusXM as I watch, so we'll see how that goes.

[JUN 8] Now for the IMPORTANT part of the Tony telecast. As you all know both LaChanze and Ariana DeBose are up for Tonys for their work in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  But guess what?  The Tony people have selected the cast of Summer to be performers on the broadcast AND (hold on to your hats!)  they will be introduced by Donna's three daughters!  Yes, you will see Mimi, Brooklyn and Amanda on stage together at some point during the show!!!  Now the only remaining question is, which song will the cast perform. My money was on MacArthur Park, until the NY Post said this: “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” though not a Best Musical nominee, will have a spot on the telecast. Critics slashed the show, but audiences love it, and there’s not a Tony viewer out there who won’t be dancing around the TV when LaChanze sings “Last Dance.” I might add that I'm sure one of the reasons they picked Last Dance is that all three Donnas get to sing it. Spoiler Alert (although not really because I'm sure you figured this out ages ago) : Last Dance is the song that closes Summer: The Musical.  So you don't have to worry about how it falls in the storyline of the show - it's just a good time after the story has been told. And of course, the entire cast gets to take part - the audience too! They are usually dancing in the aisles at that point !  :-)

[JUN 8] Let's keep going with musical news.  In the land of Tonys promotion we have the Hollywood Reporter's joint interview with LaChanze and Ariana DeBose. Billboard has an interview with LaChanze, and Variety has in interview with Tommy Mottola about the show.  (I bet a normal week of just doing 8 shows a week will feel like a vacation to everyone on Broadway after all the Tonys hoopla.  ;-p )

[JUN 8]  Looking at the grosses for the week of June 3, Summer took in $1,008,391.50. (I love that Playbill brings it out to the penny.  LOL) Unfortunately that is a significant drop from the previous week, but it looks like most of the other shows currently running also had decreased sales.  It will be interesting to see how the Tonys affect sales across the board.   :-) And of course we are moving into the summer season so there will be lots of tourists heading to NYC who will see shows.  (That should mean increased sales and more pedestrian traffic in Times Square - which means I will walk a different way to the theater on my next trip!  LOL) Oh by the way, if you are looking to see the show, tickets are on sale for all dates through April 7 2019.  So make those plans now!

[JUN 8] On to the real Donna herself! Last time the Billboard charts had Hot Stuff 2018 at #42 on the June 2 Hot Dance/Electronic  Songs chart. For June 9 it moves up to #37. The same song was at #6 for the June 9  Dance Club Songs chart and for June 16 it climbs again to #4! Hello Top 5! :-) (Just rename the chart to the Donna Summer chart already, ok?  LOL)

[JUN 8] We have a "new" Donna Summer interview out there.  Long Island Weekly interviewed Donna in 2008 as part of the Crayons promotion and for whatever reason, it was not published.... until now.  So put yourself in a 2008 mindset and go take a look.  And don't forget to check their link at the end of the article for Donna's  5 favorite songs that she recorded.

[JUN 8] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Since we're going to see Donna's girls at the Tonys, let's do some clips that feature the girls.  :-)  First up is  Bruce and the girls at the Rock Hall Of Fame ceremony.  Then we have Donna and Mimi on State Of Independence,  Donna with a very young Mimi on Mimi's Song, the video for This Time I Know It's For Real (wait until the very end - there are 2 pretty small dancers  :-)  ), a fan video for Donna with Brooklyn and Amanda on Part Of Your World,  Donna doing Hot Stuff on the Sharon Osbourne Show with a special appearance by Brooklyn,  Johnnyswim talking about Donna in the Rock Hall Of Fame,  and the acoustic version of Let It Matter by Johnnyswim - a song that was written (at least partly) about the grief they felt when Abner lost his dad and Amanda lost her mom.

[JUN 3] Happy Sunday all and Happy Pride Month to all my LGBTQ friends out there.  It's a new month so let's start off with the new Summer Fever Pick.  This time it's back to 1979 to dance with those Bad Girls.  :-)

[JUN 3] We will start off with the Summer: The Musical.  As you may know, the Tony Awards will be handed out a week from today on June 10.  It will be broadcast on CBS from 8 to 11 PM (ET and PT). For those of you on the West Coast, the show will be on a time delay so if you want to be surprised when winners are announced, you may want to stay off social media (and maybe this site too) until after you see the show.  :-)  No word yet on if the cast of Summer will perform. I'm not really expecting it since the show as a whole isn't nominated - but you never know.  I think the only other awards we are waiting to hear about are the Drama Desk Awards. That is streaming online right now and we are looking at a nomination for LaChanze for Outstanding Actress In A Musical.  I am listening to the webcast as I update, so I will jump in with the results when they are announced.

[JUN 3] Oh - I almost forgot! Since it is Pride month, Playbill is recognizing the month with rainbow colored Playbills for all the Broadway shows. So if you are heading out to see Summer this month, you will get a special Playbill.  :-) OK on to the play grosses. For the week of May 27  the total was down a little to $1,073,066. But it looks like a lot of the top shows were down too - it probably has to do with the holiday weekend and people spending time at the beach instead of in the theater.

[JUN 3]  Of course Tony week means lots of publicity for all the nominated shows. You can see LaChanze on New York Live from the other day.  Ariana DeBose was interviewed for WomenAndHollywood.com. And Vogue has a feature on the costumes of Summer: The Musical.

[JUN 3] For those of you who like silly quizzes, the site for Summer: The Musical has added a "Which Donna are you?" quiz.  One cool thing about it - after you get your answer, it's pretty easy to figure out which answers to change to become a different Donna - just in case you want to see what they have to say about each.  ;-)

[JUN 3] Moving on to the real Donna Summer. I last left you with Hot Stuff 2018 at #9 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart for the week of June 2. If you sneak ahead to June 9 - it climbs to #6.  :-) On the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, Hot Stuff 2018 peaks at #42 for the week of June 2.

[JUN 3] Bruce Sudano fans - Bruce has been performing live on his couch again. This time it's a new song called Whisper and you can see it on Facebook. (And he's still rockin' his Johnnyswim hoodie.  :-) )

[JUN 3] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's go back to 1979.  We have the concert in Japan,  a promo live video for Bad Girls, Hot Stuff live on Dinah Shore,  Dim All The Lights from the 1980 TV Special,  and Sunset People from the 1980 TV Special.

[JUN 3]  AND FINALLY! The Drama Desk Awards got to the Outstanding Actress in a Musical Award.  The award goes to  Jesse Mueller from Carousel.  Congrats to her and fingers crossed that Summer does better at the Tonys.  :-)

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