Stage Review - Damn Yankees (Reboot Theatre)
Stage Review - Damn Yankees
Presented By: Reboot Theatre - Seattle, WA
Show Run: September 06 - September 21, 2024
Date Reviewed: Thursday, September 19, 2024
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
Who doesn’t hate the Yankees, right? Well, Yankees fans, I suppose. Growing up in the Northeast, there were two types of baseball fans, those who loved the Yankees, and everyone else. And those dastardly Bronx Bombers were always in everyone’s craw. It’s a phenomenon that can translate to any sport, really. There’s always that one team that it seems yours can’t beat. And in the case of the Douglass Wallop 1954 novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, it’s those Yankees who always seem to beat his story’s protagonist’s Washington Senators, except that one year. The story pulls from the old adage of someone making a deal with the devil, selling a soul in exchange for something “desired”. In this case, it’s that lifelong Senators fan Joe Boyd can help the Senators salvage a lost season. In 1955’s Damn Yankees, Wallop and George Abbott turned to songsmiths Richard Adler and Jerry Ross to help them adapt the former’s novel into a musical. The Tony Award winning musical has stood the test of time due not only to its familiar and relatable tropes of personal attachment to things like sports teams (how many times have you heard someone “making a deal” under their breath for a 3rd down conversion or a field goal to be good?), but also for its catchy and memorably timeless songs, like "(Ya gotta have) Heart” or sultry Lola’s “A Little Brains A Little Talent”.
Reboot Theatre, the nine year old troupe whose mission it is to “test new interpretations of established works through nontraditional casting, design, and methods yet to be discovered” has taken Damn Yankees and adapted it with non-traditional casting, flipping the story to help it relate to an entirely new and progressive audience, in a production directed by Brad Lo Walker and on stage at the Theatre Off Jackson through September 21. Instead of male actors playing the Washington Senators players, Brad has cast them with females, working with costume designer Chloe Cook to outfit the players in uniforms reminiscent of the All American Girls Baseball League from the film A League of Their Own. This is an enjoyable, and very well performed version of this classic story, though I was a bit confused on the gender-related adaptation, which is really my only criticism of the show. It’s clear at the beginning that these are women ballplayers, the idea introduced in a clever “News of the World” video shown on one of Scenic Designer Devin Petersen’s set pieces, and when Joe Boyd makes the transition to Joe Hardy, it’s clear from actor Jessie Selleck’s reaction that there have been some anatomical changes to the character, yet throughout the piece the characters refer to themselves and each other “boys” or “fellas”. In my mind, it’s something that could have been cleaned up a bit for consistency’s sake, though for sure it takes nothing away from the telling of the story, the audience gets the point.
That point is, of course, is that “all magic comes at a price”, and when you make a deal with the devil, there’s always a trade off, though if you can outsmart the devil, and beat him at his own game, then perhaps there’s more to be gained than just turning that game around, you may be able to do that and at the same time understand that what is important in life is not the superficial desires like wanting to have your sports team win a pennant, but rather what has been in front of you this whole time. And in this story, for Joe Boyd, it’s his family, particularly his wife Meg. Joe has been watching his hapless Senators lose game after game against the Yankees, and he must have muttered one too many times that he’d give anything for his team to beat them, because the next thing he knows, someone who calls himself “Applegate” appears in front of him and is more than happy to make his wish a reality, in exchange for a small price, his eternal soul. Well, Joe agrees to the deal, but is able to outsmart Applegate with an escape clause, and when this demon Applegate makes old man Joe Boyd into the younger and talented Joe Hardy, it sets off a race against the clock. Can Joe Hardy lead the Senators to the pennant before 9 pm on September 24, at which he can walk away from the deal with Applegate, or can this devilish figure pull out all the stops to stall Hardy enough so that he can take possession of Joe Boyd’s soul for the entirety of eternity? And while the destination here is important, the fun of Damn Yankees is in how they get there, from the emotional separation of Joe and Meg Boyd, to Joe Hardy’s miraculous “out of nowhere” rookie campaign, to Applegate’s frustration that no matter what he tries, his plans are thwarted at every turn, to a climax that doesn’t disappoint. And the Reboot Theatre version is as fun as I’d hoped it would be, there’s a lot to like about it.
And what to like about it starts with Jessie Selleck, as the younger version of Joe Boyd, rookie sensation “Shoeless” Joe Hardy. Jessie is fresh off of winning our award for Lead Actor in a musical for her performance as Casey in First Date at Centerstage Theatre. And what I liked about her performance there, I can say the same things about here. While other sing, or act, Jessie truly performs, the way she emotes in a song is unlike anything I’ve seen, and boy, I would love to see her on a bigger stage in Seattle. Her Joe Hardy is enthusiastic, but also sentimental and melancholy. And in “A Man Doesn’t Know”, she is simply fantastic. She has a great handle on the character, Joe Hardy’s loyalty to Meg, and watching Jessie navigate Joe’s resistance to Lola, who Applegate has instructed to seduce the young ballplayer, is extremely fun. And speaking of Applegate, boy is Vincent Milay good as the devilish stranger. Vincent is masterful in this role, his grasp of the physical aspects of the character, the schlocky salesman that convinces Joe Boyd to leave home and potentially trade his soul in exchange for a few Senators’ wins, and the frustration that comes over him when Joe outsmarts him he’s just so good.
From the supporting cast, there are also a number of memorable performances. Kristie Werner is a good as the gruff Van Buren, coach of the hapless Senators, and Kristie does a fine job leading “Heart” with ensemble members Annalisa Brinchmann (Rocky), Eleanor Withrow (Smokey), and Stefanie MeiFang Van Rafelghem (Sohovik), who together perform that song very well, and execute Choreographer Mackenzie Malhotra’s very creative choreography beautifully. Mackenzie’s choreography throughout is quite enjoyable, and her use of props (baseball bats, towels) impeccably good. And just like with “Heart”, each musical number that begins with a solo or duet, like the opening “Six Months Out of Every Year”, takes off when the ensemble comes in. Aimee Hong (who also leads the very solid live orchestra) is responsible for the music direction, and her group does very well, with excellent harmonies and full voice. The ensemble is full of talented actors, each good in their own right, but excellent together, including Sriam Kanduri (Eddie), Lexi Warden (Ozzie), and recent Sound on Stage award winner Natalie Wingerter (Bomber). Additional supporting players include Ellen Dressler Smith as Meg Boyd, Lisa Stromme Warren in a very funny turn as Meg’s sister, Sophie J. Sen as sports reporter Gloria Thorpe, and Salem Salme Wahab as Applegate’s charge Lola. Salem is a good Lola, though in her first act numbers “A Little Brains, A Little Talent” and “Whatever Lola Wants”, she was difficult to hear at times, her volume not overcoming the orchestra, but thankfully she found that volume by Act 2 for “Two Lost Souls”, making her duet with Jessie’s Joe Hardy very good.
Supporting the actors is the creative team, including the aforementioned Aimee Hong (Music Director), Mackenzie Malhotra (Choreographer), Chloe Cook (Costume Designer), and Devin Petersen (Scenic Design). Each of these individuals do a fine job, but for my part, what Jacob Viramontes has done with lighting and Kairon Bullock has done with sound in this production is just spectacular. Jacob’s work complementing Vincent’s portrayal of Applegate is stellar, and while that piece of the creative puzzle is exemplary, Brad Lo Walker’s creative team is top notch.
In Damn Yankees, Joe Boyd is the typical sports fan, willing to do just about anything to help his beloved Washington Senators win. When he has a taker in a devilish stranger, the two of them put into motion a race against time and for Joe’s soul. The Reboot Theatre production is a fun and entertaining twist on this classic, led by the magnificent Jessie Selleck in a performance that itself is worth the price of admission. And as we approach the end of this year’s baseball season, Damn Yankees is perhaps the best way to take your mind off the hometown Mariners woes.
The Reboot Theatre production of Damn Yankees runs on stage at the Theatre Off Jackson through September 21. For more information, and tickets, visit https://reboottheatre.org/.
Photo credit: Colin Madison Photography
