Yes, “The Song of Summer” takes off on a pretty goofy idea. That is that this work seems, at first, to be nothing but a glamor try at swinging back to the days when songmakers, and their public agents, tried desperately every year to come up with the big winner, the “gold song,” of the summer. (Does Sonny and Cher flying high with “I Got You Babe” ring a bell, from back in 1965? ) It was a HUGE hit in that day.
“The Song of Summer” takes their possible winner on with a musical drive. Out bursts Charlie Thurston, a Trinity vet since 2013. He cracks and drives, blasting across the stage putting all he’s got toward a winner, the song of the season. It’s a wonderful opening, covered with bright, flashy overhead curtains.
Okay, you think. Is this what’s coming for the entire show? Well, thank goodness, that’s definitely not what “The Song of Summer” is getting to. The author, Lauren Yee, a fast rising writer from San Francisco, quickly, nicely maneuvers this 90 minute, no intermission work, into a good old, ever popular piece that takes on a tale of a family struggling, working, sometimes failing, but finding, finally, a reasonably decent finish.
All of this is played with real feeling. Director Taibi Magar gives all four actors careful drive. Thurston is quite fine as the one-time big winner with a summer’s hit. But offstage? Well, he’s a bit of mess.
Saving him, more or less, is his manager. Played with all his usual drive, Trinity’s vet Joe Wilson Jr., blusters the pair’s movements. They are to do just one thing – make a buck, and many of them.
Then there’s Tina, a driven young women who makes some mighty messes – before she straightens out. Her character is played by Tina Chilip, another who is filled with drive and care. Then there’s Trinity’s Anne Scurria, showing everyone about how to play a fading mother with poise and need.
“The Song of Summer” does have some down traits. An intermission might have put some drive in parts that go on a little long, and verge on being dull. And, there are some sexual moments, physically and vocally that make this play not for young children. But in the end, “The Song Of Summer” has much to say and presents that with vigor and clear caring. The 70th new play presented by one of the country’s first “home town” theaters is very worth seeing.
“The Song of Summer” continues at Trinity Rep until April 14th. Bill Gale covers the performing arts for The Public’s Radio.
