The play is harsh, very harsh. Leona is not too likeable. But the human drama is still set in Venice, and no Broadway production could replicate Venice. So one can read (or watch) the play, or watch the film and be wholly satisfied by combining both experiences.
The obvious solution is for Criterion to call on Dave Strohmaier to convert Summertime into a 3-panel Cinerama presentation; and then to summon the good folk at the 3D Film Archive to do a 3D conversion. Those Venetian vistas would look awesome. We would lose the framing of the human drama...