Theater News

Industry Reading Announced for New Musical Last Days of Summer

Derek Klena and Anthony Rosenthal will star.

Derek Klena will star in a reading of the new musical Last Days of Summer.
Derek Klena will star in a reading of the new musical Last Days of Summer.
(© David Gordon)

A private industry reading of the new musical Last Days of Summer will take place on December 7.

Based on Steve Kluger's novel, the musical features a score by Grammy winner Jason Howland and a book and lyrics by Kluger. Jeff Calhoun directs.

The cast includes Derek Klena, Anthony Rosenthal, Jackie Burns, Drew Gehling, Abby Mueller, Melissa Van Der Schyff, Daniel Jenkins, Mel Johnson Jr., Jim Kaplan, Julia Antonelli, Kevin Carolan, Christopher Paul Richards, Yasmeen Sulieman, Anthony Norman, and Aidan Wharton.

Last Days of Summer is the story of 13-year-old Joey Margolis, the neighborhood punching bag, growing up fatherless in Brooklyn in the early 1940s. A boy looking for a hero, Joey decides to latch on to Charlie Banks, the all-star third basemen for the New York Giants. But Joey's chosen champion doesn't exactly welcome the extreme attention of a persistent young fan with an overactive imagination. Then again, this strange, needy kid might be exactly what Banks needs.