Damn Yankees Synopsis
DAMN YANKEES
Book: George Abbott and Douglas Wallop (based on The Year the Yankees lost the Pennant, by Douglas Wallop)
Music and Lyrics: Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
ORIGINAL PRODUCTION
46th Street Theatre, May 5, 1955 (1,019 perf.)
Director: George Abbott
Choreographer: Bob Fosse
Musical Director: Harold Hastings
Orchestration: Don WalkerPrincipals:
Lola -- Gwen Verdon -- mezzo
Joe Hardy -- Stephen Douglass -- tenor
Mr. Applegate -- Ray Walston --baritone
Van Buren -- Russ Brown -- baritone
Gloria -- Rae Allen -- alto
Joe Boyd -- Robert Shafer --baritone
Meg - Shannon Bolen -- mezzo
Sister -- Jean Stapleto -- soprano
Sohovik --Eddie Phillip --VTI
Doris --Elizabeth Howell --VTI
Rocky -- Jimmy Komack --VTI
Vernon - Albert Linville --VTI
Smokey -- Nathaniel Frey -- tenorChorus and Smaller Roles: 8M/8F minimum, who sing and dance.
SYNOPSIS
The play opens on the front porch and living room of a suburban home near Washington, D.C., where Joe Boyd, a middle-aged baseball fan, is so engrossed in a TV baseball game that his wife, Meg, is unable to converse with him. She and a chorus of wives comment on this seasonal problem (Six Months Out of Every Year-Mixed Chorus).
When Joe's favorite team, the Washington Senators, loses, Joe offers to give his soul to the Devil if he can be a hitter for the team. The Devil, appropriately named Applegate, arrives complete with red socks and tie, and agrees to get Joe on the Senators' team by making him twenty years younger and putting him in top physical condition. Joe writes a farewell note to his wife (Goodbye, Old Girl-M Solo), and leaves the house as a twenty-year-old baseball player named Joe Hardy.
In a corridor under the stands of the Washington Baseball Park, players Smokey, Rocky and Vernon are being told by their coach, Van Buren, to keep up their spirits and they'll beat the Yankees (Heart-M Quartet). Gloria, a reporter, arrives to interview the team as Applegate and Joe enter and introduce themselves to Van Buren. Van Buren agrees to give Joe a tryout and everyone heads for the field. A sound of a ball hitting a bat is heard and the lights rise on the dugout where the team is watching the offstage tryout. He surprises the team with his expertise in hitting and fielding. Van Buren offers him a contract. Gloria attempts to find out Joe's history, but his evasive and hesitating answers only make her more curious. She looks for an angle to describe this new baseball wonder and comes up with the name Shoeless Joe when she learns the shoes he had brought were too small. Gloria decides to write up an article that will make Joe famous (Shoeless Joe From Hannibal, M~~F Solo and M Chorus).
By a billboard near the park, Sister and Doris, two of Meg's friends, wait with three teenagers to get autographs from the players. In team owner Welch's oak-paneled office back room, Applegate, knowing he does not have full control over Joe's soul until September 24, decides to distract Joe with a beautiful redhead from Chicago named Lola. Joe isn't interested for he wants his wife (A Man Doesn't Know-Sc to M Solo). The reporters, led by Gloria, arrive and question Joe about the chances of the Senators' winning the pennant. Joe and Welch state they'll have the pennant sewed up by the 24th.
Lola waits on a bench near the billboard for Applegate, who outlines her job. She says it is no problem to seduce Joe for she is an expert (A Little Brains, a Little Talent-Sc to F Solo). Joe goes to his old house to convince Meg to rent him a room. He explains he will be away a lot, and they discuss what it's like to miss someone (A Man Doesn't Know [Reprisej-Sc to MIF Duet). Joe meets Meg's friends, Sister and Doris, ardent baseball fans who are excited to think Joe will be living in the neighborhood.
In the ballpark corridor, the players are commenting on the game while Gloria and Applegate discuss the fact that Joe is finally appearing on TV.
In the locker room, Van Buren tells the team to get some rest before their next game, and everyone gradually drifts off, leaving Joe with Applegate, who introduces him to Lola and leaves. Lola sexily vamps him (Whatever Lola Wants-Sc to F Solo). She drapes herself alluringly across his lap, but Joe puts her aside, apologizes and goes home to Meg. Applegate enters to chide her and she promises to try a new tactic. Several of Meg's friends rehearse a song to honor Joe (Heart [reprise-3F/l M).
The curtain opens on a hotel ballroom, partially decorated to celebrate the success of the season. Joe enters and spies Lola, who explains she is now an official fan and sincerely starts to make friends with Joe. When Applegate arrives, she goes off to perform (Who Got the Pain?-M/F Duet). At the end of song
Lola sees Applegate, who tells her he has spread a rumor that Joe is Shifty McCoy, the missing ballplayer known to have taken a bribe in the Mexican League. Joe is to be questioned by the baseball commissioner the following morning. Joe, upset that he might not be able to play in the pennant-deciding game, proclaims his innocence as the curtain falls.
Act II opens in the locker room; the team is worried about Joe but Rocky tells them to concentrate on the rules and think about the game (The Game- Sc to Small M Chorus).
On a bench in the park, Joe tells Meg everything will be over soon, but Meg tells him she believes in him the way she believes her husband will return (Near to You-Sc to MIF Duet). Applegate, who sees them, is depressed that he may lose Joe's soul and upset that Lola hasn't been of much help. He longs for the successes he had in the past and moves downstage as the curtains close behind him (Those Were the Good Old Days-L to M Solo; Vaudeville Style).
In the commissioner's office things look grim for Joe. He tries to leave before midnight to exercise his escape clause, but time runs out and he thinks he has lost his soul to Applegate.
Later that night, Lola meets Joe on a park bench to tell him that she has drugged Applegate so he won't awaken until after the game, which means that he can't stop Joe from winning. They both know the consequences of fighting Applegate, but decide to spend their last night together. They leave the park,
enter a nightclub and begin enjoying life (Two Lost Souls-MIF Duet to Mixed Chorus Dance).
Applegate arrives at the game witth Lola, whom he has turned into an old hag. He angrily changes Joe into his former self, but Joe, as a middle-aged man, manages to catch the final out and the Senators win the American League Championship. Joe returns home to Meg, who eagerly greets him, promising to ask no questions (A Woman Doesn't Know-F Solo).
NOTES ON THE PRODUCTION
The show made Gwen Verdon a star and won the following Tony Awards: Best Musical 1956, Actress, Supporting Actor-Russ Brown, Actor-Ray Walston, Music, Book, Choreography, and Conductor/Musical Director.
This was Adler and Ross's second and last collaboration, for Jerry Ross died on November 11, 1955.
Much of the success of Damn Yankees relies on its two stars Lola and Applegate, who have to be charming and talented singer/actors. Gwen Verdon is a remarkable actress who has an appealing and distinctive style; she can portray sex and charm with humor and delight. This style is appreciated by men and women alike and it is important to cast a Lola with this charming yet vulnerable quality. The actress playing Lola must also dance well.
The show was written before the Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins (1961). The director must decide whether to update the costumes and script or keep it as originally intended. Many of the costumes are baseball uniforms, and none are complex. The props are usual and not overly difficult
to obtain. The show was written during the period of the In One scene/song, where there were one or more downstage curtains dropped to allow for set changes behind the curtain. The action was forwarded by either short songs or scenes performed in front of the drop. When the set change was over, the drop rose and a larger set was in view. Damn Yankees has many In One scenes which alternate among two billboards, a corridor under the stands, and the major set pieces; Joe's home, Welch's office, the locker room, Applegate's apartment, the commissioner's office, and a nightclub, all of which may be wagons or drops.
For theatres with limited fly space, the sets will need to be greatly adjusted from the original. It is possible to perform the show on a unit set with levels, small set pieces and props to delineate the different areas. The success of the show isn't as dependent on the physical look as other period shows are.
SONGS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
"A Little Brains, a Little Talent," character-oriented, kittenish sexy, good for overcoming movement problems, mezzo.
"The Game," good for showcase, good comic timing and strong characterizations required. Male chorus.
"Heart," comic characterizations required for this male quartet, showstopper, requires harmony, good for revue.
"Those Were the Good Old Days," vaudeville-oriented song and dance style, baritone.
Instrumentation: 5 reeds, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, horn, percussion, guitar, 4 violins, viola, cello, bass, piano/conductor
Script: Random, Theatre Arts (Magazine) 11/56
Score: Frank
Record: RCA
Rights: MTI
© 19xx, not The Aerospace Employee Association Musical Comedy Club
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Last Revision: 8 May 98