Damn Yankees, Fichandler Theatre, Arena Stage, Washington, DC

 

Alysha Umphress as Gloria Thorpe with members of the team in Damn Yankees at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman,

Let me get right to the point: Arena Stage’s Damn Yankees is damn good!

Originally produced in 1955, it is a classic American musical. Director/choreographer Sergio Trujillo calls it a “revisal”: not exactly a revival, but a revival with revisions to make it more meaningful for the audience 70 years after it debuted. Playwrights Doug Wright and Will Power have dusted off the musical’s book, re-setting it in the year 2000. Wright explains that just as we, in the 1980s and 1990s, nostalgically considered the 1950s to be “a comparatively innocent time,” we may similarly look back on 2000 – before the saturation and domination of the Internet and social media.

Of course, changing the time period required and allowed some changes. In the original production, the focus was on the Washington baseball team: not the Nats, but the defunct Washington Senators, who played from 1961 to 1971. (They replaced a similarly-named team that relocated from DC to become the Minnesota Twins, but the Senators of the 1960s would ultimately leave DC to become the Texas Rangers.) When I first learned that Damn Yankees was on the menu for this season, I was amused at the idea of watching a Washington audience relate to the old team. Instead, the focus is on the Baltimore Orioles: as close as you can get to Washington with a “real” team in existence 25 years ago, especially just a mile from where the Nationals, Washington’s current baseball team, play today.

The new time period creates another possibility that did not occur in the original: by making the central character Black, Wright and Power create an additional subtext: that the character’s interest in baseball derives in part from his devotion to his father. His father had played in the Negro Leagues, but at that time, professional baseball was largely restricted to White players.

Before the pact with the devil: Bryonna Marie as Meg Boyd and Quentin Earl Darrington as Joe Boyd in Damn Yankees at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.

Additionally, because the baseball season now continues until mid-October instead of mid-September, the dates of Joe’s “contract” have been updated. In the original, Joe faces a scandal because he cannot produce identification; in the new version, he is threatened with a scandal claiming steroid use.

I am not totally familiar with the original script, so it is difficult for me to determine exactly what has been altered, but the alterations are so seamless, only major changes, like the team’s name and the race of the central character, are noticed. Those changes are more than just a bit cosmetic, but the essence of the show remains: its exuberance, music, and themes. It does, indeed still have the “heart” of the original (pun intended).

Damn Yankees provides us with a version of the Faust myth, in which a mortal man makes a pact with the devil to get what he wants. In this instance, baseball fan/fanatic Joe Boyd gets so worked up over the dismal performance of his team, he says he would sell his soul for a long ball hitter. In a (literal) flash, Mr. Applegate suddenly appears, ready to strike a deal. Applegate is mysterious but also very slick in his role as an agent for the devil. Boyd is so desperate, he makes the deal, even though it means that he has to walk away from his loving wife. He demands an escape clause so that he can return to his old life, if he wants. Applegate has never agreed to an escape clause, but he is so sure of his powers, he reluctantly accepts Joe’s terms.

After the deal: Jordan Donica as Joe Hardy and Bryonha Marie as Meg Boyd in Damn Yankees at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.

The middle-aged Boyd, who clenches his back every time he tries to swing a bat, is magically replaced by a strikingly handsome, athletic young man, who becomes known as Joe Hardy. Hardy becomes an instant sensation in the press and a favorite of the fans.

Applegate sweetens the deal with the aid of one of his “best homewreckers,” a kittenish, sensual vamp named Lola. Lola, whom we later learn made a similar deal with Applegate many years before, uses every trick in her book to entice Hardy into falling for her, but he is determined to be “good,” to fulfill his obligation to his team but also be true to his wife. He has been seeing his wife and helping her with household chores, but of course she doesn’t recognize his reincarnation.

Legendary Broadway director George Abbott and Douglas Wallop, who wrote the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, which formed the basis for the show, wrote the original libretto, with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. (Abbott collaborated with Adler and Ross on The Pajama Game a year earlier. Each show took its season’s Tony as Best Musical.) In addition to those credits, this production’s program includes the credits “New Adaptation by Will Power and Doug Wright,” as well as “Additional Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.”

Rob McClure as Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.

Sergio Trujillo, a Tony winner for Ain’t Too Proud, directs and choreographs the production. Consequently, the scenes and songs mesh perfectly. He guides a gifted cast and designers working at the peak of their games. Dare I say it: the team has not just hit a home run, they have hit it out of the park. (Forgive me, I couldn’t resist the temptation – which is a perfect reaction given the circumstances.) Trujillo conquers the challenges of staging the show in arena style, making excellent use of Arena’s entire space, including the aisles and elevatable stage. His choreography is some of the most athletic, even acrobatic at times, that I have seen in recent years, and it is performed with sharp synchronicity and exuberant energy.

What a cast Trujillo has to work with! Two-time Tony nominee Rob McClure (for Mrs. Doubtfire and Chaplin) oozes an evil energy, panache, and occasional sleight-of-hand worthy of a servant of Satan, especially as he relishes torture devices in previous times (such as the guillotine) in “Those Were the Good Old Days.” Latina spitfire Ana Villafañe is seductively beautiful, charming, and lithe as Lola. She persuasively performs one of the show’s most famous numbers, “Whatever Lola Wants.” (I started to say “sings,” but she does much more than that).

Jordan Donica, Tony-nominated for his role as Lancelot in the 2023 revival of Camelot and currently a cast member of “The Gilded Age” on HBO, gives a sincere, unmannered, and charismatic performance as Joe Hardy. Donica’s voice is as rich, supple, and expressive as any Broadway has to offer. He even sings “The Star-Spangled Banner”! I predict that he will have a long, storied career as a leading man.

Quentin Earl Darrington and Bryonha Marie are Joe and Meg Boyd, apparently happily married for 30 years (except, as she sings, “Six Months Out of Every Year,” when he is glued to the television following his beloved Orioles). Darrington conveys a world-weariness and devotion to his team, never giving up hope, and an initial reluctance to make his deal with the devil. Marie duets separately with both Donica and Darrington – beautifully – on “A Man Doesn’t Know.” Marie convincingly portrays both Meg’s frustration with and abiding love for her husband.

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Ana Villafañe as Lola and Jordan Danica as Joe Hardy, "Two Lost Souls," in Damn Yankees at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.

Nehal Joshi is Van Buren, the Orioles coach who impresses upon his team that baseball doesn’t just require ability, it also has to have “Heart,” probably the show’s second best-known number. Five players form the core of Van Buren’s team: Drake Leach as Fuzzy (on opening night), Raúl Contreras as Peña, Ryo Kamibayashi as Ito, J Savage as Sohovik, and Justin Showell as Rocky. Each creates a very specific character and together they execute Trujillo’s amazing choreography, while also creating a sense of camaraderie. Alysha Umpjress, who impressed last season in Arena’s The Bedwetter, is convincing as the hopeful-but-realistic reporter who coins the nickname “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO,” for the long ball hitter who seems to have no back story. And I would be remiss if I did not also recognize Rayeanne Gonzales as the lascivious “Sister.” Gonzales always creates interesting characters, no matter how small the role.

Designers Robert Brill (set), Lind Cho (costumes), Philip S. Rosenberg (lighting), Walter Trabach (sound), Peter Nigrini (projections), and Charles G. LaPointe (wigs and hair) prove to be an all-star team, creating an uncluttered, dynamic atmosphere in which the characters can thrive. The team also includes Paul Kieve as “illusion designer,” whose work with McClure makes Applegate’s magic work.

The damn fine Damn Yankees occupies the Fichandler Theatre and Arena Stage through November 9. I encourage you to enjoy this new/old classic. It’s a hit by any measure.