According to the Jay Records website, the new CD features the talents of Rachel York (Dorothy), Megan Valerie Walker (Miriam), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Aggie), Joe Gallagher (Benjie), Brett Tabisel (Oscy), Ryan Driscoll (Hermie), Ayal Miodovnik (Pete), Danielle Ferland (Gloria) and Bill Buell (Mr. Sanders, Walter Winchell). The recording was made following a May 2005 concert at the York Theatre Company, which was directed by Gabriel Barre. Based upon the novel and screenplay by Herman Raucher, Summer of '42 features a book by Broadway actor Hunter Foster and music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum. Lynne Shankel was the musical director for the recording.

"Hermie’s teenage summer of fun becomes a bittersweet lesson in love," reads Summer of '42 press notes, "when he falls for a young war bride in a seaside town in this original musical based on the 1971 Oscar-nominated film. Funny, wistful and romantic, Summer of '42 will bring you back to that innocent age of 1940s swing, when friends met at the local soda fountain, the Andrews Sisters played on every radio, and the discovery of first love felt strange and wonderful."