Steve Kluger has a lot to say and a compelling need to say it.
Kluger is an author with five books and four plays to his credit, including the novel “Last Days of Summer.” He also wrote the lyrics for a musical with the same title based on his book, a first for him.
Now, the Kansas City Repertory Theatre (KC Rep) will present the first production of the musical “Last Days of Summer” from Sept. 7 through Sept. 30 at the Spencer Theatre on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Since 1998, when the novel was published, many people have suggested to Kluger that he turn it into a musical. At first, he didn’t see how transforming the novel into a musical could be done, “but I finally just sat down and wrote some lyrics myself.”
The musical and the novel have substantial Jewish elements. Both are set in Brooklyn, New York, in the early 1940s. Twelve-year-old Joey Margolis, whose Bar Mitzvah is growing near, and his best friend, Craig Nakamura, write letters to New York Giants baseball player Charlie Banks (a Lutheran), hoping he’ll help them “impress and suppress the neighborhood bullies,” according to promotional material for the play.
“An unlikely friendship is formed between the two boys and Charlie,” according to the material, “and as they are there for each other through everything life throws at them and while the turbulent events at the dawn of World War II unfold, bonds are formed that will last forever. This new musical is a poignant and hilarious tale of baseball, the struggle to fit in and the true gift of friendship.”
Joey’s mother and aunt face the decision of whether to “let the gentile stand up for him at his Bar Mitzvah because the father had left the family and the rest of his family was stuck in Europe,” Kluger said.
“I think it’ll play very well to Jewish audiences, and it will not puzzle non-Jewish audiences, he said, adding that “all the Jewishness came from memory. It’s a musical comedy. The more serious the subject matter, the funnier you can make it. You will find more comedy in tragedy and tragedy in funny situations.”
Kluger received three offers to produce the musical, including one from the KC Rep, which also offered to open its season with it. Kluger accepted.
Kluger’s being Jewish definitely influences his work, “how I look at things.”
“They are not always Jewish characters in what I write but sometimes they are,” he said. “I grew up Reform – Reform is one step up from Presbyterian. When I was 25, my grandmother gave me a mezuzah. Judaism is fundamental to who I am. I’m very fierce about it and very protective of it. … People read something I’ve written with no Jewish character in it and they know I’m Jewish (because of the) cadences and the way characters react.”
Kluger knew early in life that he wanted to be an author and Starting in fifth grade, his teachers often told him was able to write well, but he didn’t know what that meant.
“Apparently, it stood out from other kids,” he said. “I didn’t notice anything different from what other kids were writing. When I was 11, I read ‘A Wrinkle in Time.’ I wrote to the author (Madeleine L’Engle) about what an incredible book it was. She wrote back and said ‘Judging by the way you express yourself, I wouldn’t be surprised if you grow up to be a writer yourself.’ ”
Her encouragement had a lasting, positive effective on him, and he does the same for other young writers with hopes that it’ll have the same effect on them.
Kluger is 66. He was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved with his family to New York City when he was 13. He now lives in Boston.
He went to a college-preparatory school called Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York, and then studied theater at the University of Southern California. After two years there with a 3.5 GPA, he left school, returned to New York and took a job with the Light Opera of Manhattan as the company manager. By age 21, he became its general manager and performed at night.
“At the end of 1974, when I would’ve graduated (from USC), I was so far ahead of where I would have been,” he said.
The KC Rep is further along than it would’ve been in producing the musical thanks to financial support it received from the Hall Family Foundation; the Copaken Family Fund; the Missouri Arts Council, supported partly by money from the National Endowment for the Arts; the City of Kansas City, Missouri’s Tourist Development Fund; and other donors.
In addition to “Last Days of Summer,” Kluger’s books are: “My Most Excellent Year,” “Almost Like Being in Love,” “Changing Pitches” and “Yank: The Army Weekly, World War II from the Guys That Brought You Victory.” His plays are: “Pilots of the Purple Twilight: A Play,” “Bullpen: A Late-Inning Comedy,” “After Dark” and “Café 50’s.”
His approach to writing, he said, starts with writing brief descriptions of his ideas in a notebook and then asking himself questions.
“I have an idea and think: Is this going to work or not?” he said. “(I think about the) characters that come to mind (and) what the payoff is going to be at the end. I tell kids the very first thing is you need to know where it ends so you can come back to that main road again. Without fail with four novels now, I’ll be doing something or saying something and a thought pops into my head and I go the notebook. I tell everybody: Do it your own way.”