Damn Yankees, Richard Adler and Jerry Ross’ musical variation on Faust by authors George Abbott and Douglass Wallop set in the world of Major League Baseball (based on Wallop’s novel (The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant) has always been a B+ entry in the Golden Age of musical theatre. Known somewhat for a handful of standards that found their way into the Great American Songbook and mostly as the first collaboration of Broadway icons Bob Fosse and his muse Gwen Verdon. In retrospect, it was an enjoyable enough show that was a better vehicle for Verdon’s legendary talents than standing on its own merits. Even a 1992 revival starring Verdon’s heir apparent, modern day Fosse protegee Bebe Neuwirth, failed to round the bases as anything more than a pleasant retro-musical relic.
Well, team, play ball! Arena Stage’s revitalized production of Damn Yankees steps up to the plate with a newfound swagger, style, and—dare I say it?—Heart. The classic script has been readapted by Will Power (Memnon, Seize the King) and Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife, War Paint, Grey Gardens) and the classic Adler/Ross score has received additional lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Once on this Island). Their biggest (and riskiest) change is that the story is no longer set in the nostalgic world of the 1958 Senators who could never seem to win, but the modern day disastrous world of the 2000 Baltimore Orioles (notoriously the season when money hungry owner Peter Angelos sold off virtually his entire high-priced roster of superstars, and local heroes Cal Ripkin and Albert Bell suffered massive injuries-while conversely the Yankees Dynasty was basking in the glory of the Derek Jeter reign). While I generally oppose massive changes to classic properties, when they can have the fans cheering in the stands for a classic musical, I’m for it. But I give credit for this primarily to Director/Choreographer Sergio Trujillo (Ain’t Too Proud, Jersey Boys) with a strong assist from a roster of Broadway’s heavy hitters. Suffice it to say, this Damn Yankees is a homerun.
The basic story remains intact. A middle-aged lifelong Orioles fan, Joe Boyd (Quentin Earl Darrington), sits in his easy chair all baseball seasons cheering on his beloved home team and inadvertently ignoring his devoted wife Meg (Breyhona Marie). After a particularly frustrating loss to those “Damn Yankees”, Boyd announces he’d sell his soul for a longball hitter for the club. Enter the Devil himself, going by the name Applegate (a delightful Rob McClure), deal in hand. And sooner than you can say “Batter up!”, courtesy of some dazzling stage effects by Illusion Designer Paul Kieve, Boyd finds standing in his place a younger, bigger, stronger, more dashing version of himself, “Joe Hardy” (Jordan Donica). Applegate quickly manages to sell his powerhouse client to the desperate Orioles where young Joe Hardy quickly becomes a local power hitting shortstop sensation, despite his enigmatic background which looks like a story for Baltimore Sun sports reporter Gloria Thorpe (Alysha Umphress). When it seems like Joe may be have too much integrity for his own good, Applegate increases his odds by calling up his secret weapon, designated temptress Lola (Ana Villafañe) to distract Joe’s mind from the game.
And what a batting order Trujillo has lined up here. Leading off, Jordan Donica is having quite the season this year. After an impressive string of Golden Age revivals at Lincoln Center (My Fair Lady, Camelot) and a high profile role as a hot 19th Century doctor on HBO’s The Gilded Age, he steps up to the plate here in a role he was born to play. With his impressive 6’4” stature and broad-chested athletic build, not only does he look like a major league All-Star, but when he sings, his booming baritone makes his Joe Hardy one for the Hall of Fame. With an amiable demeanor and believable athletic presence, you don’t have to be an Orioles fan to root for Donica to be the hero.
With Donica guaranteed to be on base, look for the literal “Heart” of the batting order to advance him. A quartet of strong ballplayers (Ryo Kamibayashi, Michael Harmon, golden voiced tenor J Savage, and, at this performance, Drake Leach), sing and dance with great technique and athletic prowess as they sell major production numbers “The Game” and, most notably, the most famous standard of the score, “Heart”. Not only do this flawless and diverse quartet bring golden voices and golden feet to the game, they also awesomely display Golden Glove athletic moves as they play the mock game batting, fielding, and throwing, which is appreciated in a sports musical.
Filling the sweet spot of the order, Ana Villafañe (On Your Feet, In the Heights) is a natural fit for the slinky Lola. Already having dazzled New York audiences as Gloria Estefan in her biomusical, she does Gwen Verdon good service preserving her role. Not necessarily an extraordinary dancer like Verdon and Neuwirth, Villafañe handles Trujillo’s demanding choreography with grace and ease but also can belt beyond the fences, whicih none of her famous predecessors do, and is a true triple threat with her sympathetic take on Lola. As Verdon’s successor, she inherits the best solos of the show, from “A Little Brains, A Little Talent”, where she namedrops a historical list of famous vamps that she has outdone, and “Whatever Lola Wants”, Verdon’s setpiece of seduction, which in this production feels less like a dance showcase and more like a Bond girl attacking a James Bond theme song with all the danger and sexual freedom contained within. She hits all her showcase numbers out of the park.
Batting in the clean-up spot with his bases loaded, Rob McClure (Mrs. Doubtfire, Spamalot), devilish playing against type as Applegate, swings for the fences and delivers a grand-slam performance chewing what little scenery Set Designer Robert Brill gives him in Arena’s in-the-round stadium along the way. McClure, who has made a career selling the broadest comedy in musical theatre, walks off with the show in a delectable performance. He’s a comic master whether being devious, temperamental, cynical, or any of those other dark emotions one would expect of the Prince of Darkness, but McClure struts all he has to give in his luceriferous 11:00 song and dance showstopper “Those Were the Good Old Days”. McClure is a strong captain to guide this winning team to the pennant—and possibly a Tony if the show makes its projected transfer to Broadway next season.
Alysha Huphrees pinch hits with the right touch of intrigue as she tries to solve the mystery of “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO”. Backed by her all-star chorus of singing/dancing Orioles, she gets Joe Hardy’s career off to a rousing start.
Set Designer Robert Brill has an easier job than normal in Arena’s in-the-round set up. His actual “set” is a frame of outfield fencing around the perimeter at the feet of row A and a selection of furntiure and set pieces to designate the location. They vary from the worn and lived-in muted pastel easy chairs and ottomans in the opening number living rooms (ironically in the muted pastel shades of the shows original 50s setting), simple benches and a closet or two for the locker room, and some otherworldly office furniture for Applegate’s Underworld lair. His most clever addition is the four corner hidden elevator openings (placed cleverly where the bases would be on the square stage). He is assisted by Peter Nigrini’s useful projections which can cover the fence barrier or the floor to make up for lack of scenery. This duo has the most work ahead to readapt the piece to the Broadway stage if the show heads out of town for its projected Bronx-Bomber adjacent series.
Costume designer Linda Cho has most of her job done for her with the bulk of the costumes being baseball themed. The uniforms are period correct for colloring and cuts, but it’s the fan looks and the variety of period brand undershirts the players wear that allow her to demonstrate some thought and creativity on the diamond. Where she excells is Applegate’s snazzy designer suits (avoiding the obvious ubiquitous red and settling on crisp black with burgundy accents) and Lola’s slinky, barely-there dance outfits, which give a distinctly Bob Mackie-esque salute, never wrong for the role of the Vamp. Everything Villafeña wears seems to disintigrate as her seductive numbers go on, to the point where the sequin and rhinestoned remnants are reminsicent of Cher’s infamous comeback to the TV censors of the day. When Mackie bragged his job was easy because “Cher can wear anything”, she quickly responded. “Better than that, I can wear nothing!”. Cho and Villafeña seem to be sending the duo a counter offer—“Better than that, Ana Villafeña can wear less than nothing.” But, like Cher, Villafeña looks spectacular no matter what stage of striptease Cho clothes her in and her dance moves are worthy of the stunning costumes.
Lighting Designer Philip S. Rosenberg has a challenge delineating isolated segments of the already small stage to aid the movie cut scene changes that modern books have written in, but he does it. They are especially effective when combined with Illusion Designer Paul Kieve’s disappearing acts for mystical entrances and exits.
Doug Besterman’s updated musical arrangements are stellar and give the classic score a contemporary energy to push extra fire into Trujillo’s homerun dance numbers. No quiet 50s standards here, Besterman’s orchestrations swing big and elevate the standard score to a hit parade of fun, upbeat production numbers.
Let’s address the Power and Wright revised book, other than the relocation from DC to Baltimore, which was high risk as far as retaining the piece’s original nostalgic charm, most of the revisions are just punching up the jokes to meet a more modern pace of humor. But they bobble a few balls when they try to make the piece more than it needs to be just to cram in more contemporary issues. A heavy-handed error shifting Joe Hardy’s potential scandal from a criminal past to performance enhancement drugs is a bit much and a bit of an insult to Donica’s well rounded character. A reference by Applegate to Hardy when he begins to miss his wife, reminding him that he’s playing for his father who couldn’t play outside the Negro Leagues of his day. One sentence and out. Wouldn’t it have been more progressive to just have cast the spectacular Donica as an African-American Joe Hardy because he was undeniably the best actor for the role, instead of inventing a reason requiring him to be? And late in the show, Umphress’ Gloria Thorpe drops a thought suggesting she, as a young tomboy, may have struggled with gender issues? With so much they did right, these instances of drop a social issue just because they can and move on just seem too much and too extra. On the right side, they have deepened the connection between Joe and Meg through Joe Hardy, and relocated Lola’s superfluous showcase “Who’s Got the Pain” (a pointless number to showcase Verdon in the second act that adds nothing to the story) to a major production number with a team night out at a strip joint where Lola seduces the whole Oriole team instead of just a random Bob Fosse stand-in partner.
One (thankfully) ironic misfire: if you insist on relocating the show to modern era Baltimore, and feel it necessary to inject a desperate attempt of patriotism in the show, know your territory. The update attempts to heal our national wounds by having Donica sing the National Anthem at what will be his final home game. Their misguided attempt at restoring patriotism in today’s fragile, fractured society forgets what even the lightest weight Baltimore fan knows–“‘dem O’s” refuse sing the entire song, they just wait silently til that embarrassing spot where they shout that heinous, piercing, white trash Baltimore “O”, painfully elongating the single vowel like a South Baltimore junkyard dog howling at the moon. This decidedly disrespectful practice has been personally humiliating for this Baltimore fan, but if you’re insisting on a modern day update, the devil is in the details, as they say. Ruling: Major Error.
Ahrens didn’t seem to have to change many of the lyrics. Her contributions seem to be most obviously replacing an iffy verse about Indians and cowboys in McClure’s “Good Old Days” with a less inflammatory reference, a benign and barely noticed adjustment. But in the process, the team created a major bobble by cutting McClure’s encore of the song when it’s the only number the multi-colorful character has. Likewise, the new book pares the Joe/Meg/Joe inner monologue trio “Near to You” to a real time duet for Donica and Marie, which serves them better, but cuts Darrington’s Joe Boyd out of the only other stage moment he has between the opening scene and the finale, which is obviously why the song was conceived as a trio to begin with. Depriving these two talented actors from their bigger moments is a critical loss.
Tony Winner Sergio Trujillo, with exceptionally strong direction and choreography, is the perfect coach to inspire and elevate the musicality of this old chestnut score into un unending string of showstopping song and dance extravaganzas. Every production number is bigger than the one that came before it. And most importantly, his precise direction balances out most of the uneven spots of the updated book that were a little heavy handed to borderline awkward.
But I quibble. I have always enjoyed this show, and the ’92 revival (which I saw with comic clown Jerry Lewis as Applegate) was an inspired point of that era’s revivals. But I have never enjoyed it as much as this evening, when I just smiled from the opening “Six Months Out Of Every Year” (which updates the ensemble baseball homes to feature one female super fan with a househusband and a gay couple) to the heartwarming finale ending (despite them removing the banished Lola from rejoicing in Joe’s victory). Trujillo has rediscovered the somewhat lost “Heart” of this revised production and given the next generation a cause to root for.
So don your orange and black and head down to Arena Stadium–er, Stage–and root root root for the Orioles to sweep this series. Because this devilishly delightful revival is taking a victory lap before it leaves the home field for a hopefully successful season on the road, dreaming of bringing home a trophy or two from Yankee territory.
All photos courtesy of Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
Running time is 2 hours 30 minutes with a 15 minute intermission.
Damn Yankees runs through November 9 at Arena Stage, 1101 6th Street NW, Washington DC, 20024. Tickets may be purchased at the box office by calling 202.488.3300 or online