Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Minneapolis/St. Paul

Damn Yankees
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Also see Arty's reviews of Choir Boy, You Can't Take It with You, Putting It Together and The Illusion


Allen Fitzpatrick, Randy Schmeling, Dieter Bierbrauer, and Reid Harmsen
There's a reason it's called it the Golden Age of musicals, and it's hard to top Damn Yankees as a prime example of the exuberance, craftsmanship, professionalism and goodwill that characterizes the best of Broadway shows from the 1940s through the mid-1960s. The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts' terrific production of Damn Yankees would be right at home in that halcyon era.

The story is a variation of the Faust legend by way of major league baseball. Joe Boyd is a diehard middle-aged baseball fan, frustrated by his beloved Washington Senators' endless losing streak. Joe makes a bargain with the devil—who appears in the guise of the witty and debonair Mr. Applegate—in exchange for becoming Joe Hardy, the super-slugging ball player the Senators desperately need to rise from the basement and defeat the lords of the league, the Yankees. Once he displays his amazing batting power, Joe is quickly picked up by the Senators. However, unwilling to eternally abandon his faithful wife, Meg, Joe persuades Applegate to put an escape clause in their contract. Lest Joe exercise the escape clause, Applegate summons the sultry sexpot Lola to lure Joe into a life of debauchery from which he will never return. Meanwhile, an intrepid sports reporter, Gloria Thorpe, suspects something is peculiar about the sudden arrival of Joe Hardy as savior to the beleaguered Senators.

Does Joe cave in to temptation and end up among the eternally damned? Does Gloria Thorpe uncover the wickedness behind phenom Joe Hardy? Do the Yankees rise up and squash the Senators' hope of winning the pennant? I won't reveal how it all plays out, but remember, this was hatched in the 1950s. Were unhappy endings even legal then?

True, there are some updates in the current production. Color-blind casting, unthinkable when the show opened in 1955, allows for an African-American pair of Joes—Lawrence Clayton as doughy Joe Boyd, and Thay Floyd as super-slugger Joe Hardy. Both are terrific, with beautiful voices. Also, rather than elaborate set pieces, projections on the rear stage wall extend the intimations of setting for each scene (the Boyd's living room, the ball park, the locker room, a night club) with bright images that add to the "gosh, this is fun!" tone of the entire show. Still, the bones of the story are unchanged ... no revisionist twist and, as in all good Golden Age musicals, the show is sexy without being vulgar, funny but neither coarse nor high-brow, and chock-full of wonderful music—dance numbers, specialty turns and ballads.

The entire cast shines. Aside from the two Joes ... and Thay Floyd not only sings with yearning, his acting chops portray the loss Joe Hardy feels in having left Meg behind for the season, and maybe forever, while his innocence in the face of the notorious Lola is adorable. As Lola, Tari Kelly is glorious, hilarious in her over-the-top deduction plot, and touching when she starts to have some genuine feelings for the big lug she is charged with destroying. Her dancing is great, shown off in two classic specialty numbers, "A Little Brains, A Little Talent" and "Whatever Lola Wants," as well as in the ensemble dance numbers "Who's Got the Pain?" and "Two Lost Souls." I have listened many times to both Gwen Verdon and Bebe Neuwirth on cast albums of the Broadway original and revival, respectively, and Ms. Kelly out-sings them both.

Topping them all is Monte Riegel Wheeler as Mr. Applegate in a performance that gives meaning to the word "showstopper." Wheeler exudes sophisticated wit and charm, draws the laughs out of every line using voice and body language. His big solo number "Those Were the Good Old Days," is soft-shoe manna from musical comedy heaven. Ann Morrison as Meg is a mid-1950s housewife with both verve and tenderness. When the spotlight closes in on her at the end of the beautiful "Near to You," sung with yearning by Meg and her two Joes, the look on her face speaks of complete faith and love.

Kersten Rodau as Gloria Thorpe is a spiky reporter who is equally ambitious whether creating a media buzz over Joe Hardy's wondrous skills on the playing field or crusading to uncover a scandal. Allen Fitzpatrick is the epitome of the stern but fatherly team manager Van Buren, who early in the show sets the mood of the entire piece giving his players a lesson in "Heart" (as in, "You gotta have ..."), Damn Yankees' best known and most beloved song. Dieter Bierbrauer, Reid Harmsen, and Randy Schmeling are princes of comedy as the three most vocal ballplayers, especially delighting in their delivery of "The Game." Michelle Myers and Regina Marie Williams give terrific comic turns as Doris and Sister, Meg's friends who are also big time Senator fans.

For a show about baseball, the ensemble epitomizes a well-oiled team, every member doing their part and working together to make all of the choral and dance moments shine. Speaking of dance, even with reduced stage depth—owing to the placement of the 16-piece orchestra on the stage, playing from a set-piece designed to resemble a ball-park dugout—the dancing is exceptional, both in choreography (credited to both James A. Rocco and Sharon Halley, who also co-directs) and in execution. The lively "Who's Got the Pain?" fits into a commonality among many Golden Age shows to include a dance number based on Latin rhythms (see "Conga" in Wonderful Town, "Hernando's Hideaway" in Pajama Game, and "Much Cha Cha" in Bells Are Ringing). The number has absolutely nothing to do with the plot line, but must have been considered an emblem of sophisticated entertainment.

In 1955, when Damn Yankees first appeared, the program stated that the time was "in the near future." Of course, a fantasy of a future when the Senators, or any other team, could stop the Yankee juggernaut. The program at the Ordway does not say so, but clearly we now view Damn Yankees through the lens of nostalgia for bygone days of baseball and Broadway. The Ordway has gone all out to make that experience complete, with Washington Senators and Damn Yankees trivia questions, along with old-time baseball images, projected on stage as the audience is seated to strains of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"; the intermission announced as the seventh inning stretch; and ushers wearing baseball caps. Too, the fact that in 1961 the actual Washington Senators moved to the Twin Cities and became the Minnesota Twins is certainly not lost on the Ordway crowd.

At the curtain call, the lyrics to "Heart" are projected onto the stage and the audience at the performance I attended, with no prompting, joined the cast in a final verse "You gotta have heart, all you really need is heart," we sang. Damn Yankees delivers a pitcher's mound of heart and plays every inning with all its bases fully loaded. It's a show at the top of its league.

Damn Yankees continues at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts through June 28, 2015. 345 Washington Street, Saint Paul, MN. Tickets from $95.00 - $36.00, $33.00 Standing Room Only. For tickets call 651 224-4222 or go to Ordway.org

Book: George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, based on the Douglass Wallop novel "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant"; Music and Lyrics: Richard Adler and Jerry Ross; Direction and Choreography: James A. Rocco and Sharon Halley; Scenic Design: J Branson: Costume Design: Lynda L. Salsbury; Lighting Design: Pamila Gray; Sound Design: Andy Horka/Big Air Productions; Hair and Make-Up Design: Robert A. Dunn; Media Design: Todd F. Edwards; Props Coordinator: Rick Polenek; Production Manager: Andy Luft; Technical Director: Jason Allyn-Schwerin; Music Director: Jeff Rizzo; Associate Music Director: Raymond Berg; Casting: Reid Harmsen; Stage Manager: Sharon Bach; Scenery and Props Constructed by: Penumbra Theatre Scenic Shop

Cast: Dieter Bierbrauer (Rocky), Gary Briggle (Commissioner), Lawrence Clayton (Joe Boyd), Mario Esteb (Joe Hardy's Fan Club), Allen Fitzpatrick (Van Buren), Thay Floyd (Joe Hardy), Reid Harmsen (Sohovik), Tari Kelly (Lola), Ann Morrison (Meg Boyd), Michelle Myers (Doris), Aaron Neely (Eddie), Kersten Rodau (Gloria Thorpe), Randy Schmeling (Smokey), Monte Riegel Wheeler (Mr. Applegate), Regina Marie Williams (Sister).

Ensemble: Lisa Bartholomew-Given (Dance Captain), Larissa Gritti, Joey Miller, Pascal Pastrana, Rudolph Searles III, Karen Skrinde, Kirby Trymucha-Duresky, Kyle Weiler.


Photo: Courtesy of Ordway Center for the Performing Arts


- Arthur Dorman


Also see the season schedule for the Minneapolis - St. Paul region