| Some years ago the Motion Picture Academy did an tribute to the film "Damn Yankees" and Tab, Gwen Verdon, Shannon Bolin, Stanley Donen and others discussed making the movie. One of the most interesting facts I learned (other than that Gwen and the others referred to Tab as "Tabunta") was that the soundtrack was recorded during a musician's strike. So the cast pre-recorded their tracks to the accompaniment of the OBC album and an orchestra in Mexico was used to record the score for the film. That explains why the movie soundtrack is so similar to the OBC. Also, I think the shoot was only 28 days, which is very tight for any studio feature, let alone a musical. Very coincidentally, UCLA Film & TV Archives is doing a Fosse series this summer and "Damn Yankees" will be on a double bill with "Pajama Game". That will be a night of pure heaven for me. |
