Theatre review
"Damn Yankees!" at Cortland Repertory Theatre
Ithaca Times
July 8, 2009
756 words
"Grand Slam"

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Grand Slam

Mark Tedeschi

"Damn Yankees!," book by George Abbott and Douglas Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Directed by Jim Bumgardner. Starring Erica Livingston, Jef Canter, Dominick Varney, Peter Carrier, Tom Frye, Meghan Rozak, Robert Finley, Alyson Tolbert. With musical director David Hahn, choreographer Daniel B. Hess, dance captain Jared Tius, scenic designer Jason Bolen, costume designer Wendi Zee, lighting designer Shawn Boyle, and sound designer David Huber.

Every summer, Cortland Rep chooses a "bigger" show as its seasonal centerpiece to run for three weeks instead of the usual two. Last year's The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and 2007's Fiddler on the Roof were laudable exemplars of consolidation, shrinking the larger-scale musicals just enough to work on the Edward Jones Playhouse stage. This year, they're putting on the 1955 Broadway hit Damn Yankees!, and darned if CRT didn't make the classic seem born to be played in a smaller space. The fickle characters become endearing, the Faustian story feels accessible, and the hammy humor hits home.

In this Jim Bumgardner-directed production, the beer-bellied and bum-kneed Joe Boyd (Jef Canter with a pillow in his shirt) glues himself to an easy chair and shouts at his favorite baseball team on TV (as do his friends in the boisterous opener "Six Months Out of Every Year") while his wife Meg (Erica Livingston) hands him a beer and bemoans his cocoon of preoccupation (a concern for the other wives, too).

After the game, Boyd steps outside - actually, through a wheelable door frame matched by a quick change in lighting, respectively courtesy of Jason Bolen and Shawn Boyle. He makes an offhand comment to a slick-looking salesman, Mr. Applegate (Dominick Varney), about selling his soul if it meant fewer losses for the Washington Senators at the hands of those damn Yankees. Applegate offers him a deal involving a last-minute escape clause and turns him into a fit, 22-year-old baseball wunderkind named Joe Hardy. During the transformation Boyd sings "Goodbye Old Girl" to himself, the song apparently all he needs to justify abruptly and discreetly leaving his wife to fulfill a pipe dream for six months. Nevertheless, he heads to the ballpark, Applegate in tow.

Peter Carrier plays Joe Hardy as modest and earnest, making it easy to like him - plus, he has an excellent voice, evidenced in two duets with Livingston, "A Man Doesn't Know," and later, "Near to You." Hardy meets the Senators after their "Blooper Ballet," a tour de force of music (David Hahn, director), sound (David Huber), lighting, and choreography (Daniel B. Hess). The baseball players pantomime a number of blunder gags with razor-sharp timing and unmissable athleticism - and even some acrobatics.

In the locker room, Coach Van Buren (a spry Tom Frye) leads the Senators in the harmony-laden "Heart," the catchy number wherein the team boasts, "We always lose / but we're laughing 'cause / we've got heart!" Applegate convinces Van Buren to let Hardy try out. Afterward, he's taken to meet Commissioner Welch (Robert Finley, last seen at CRT in "Ten Little Indians") while the crafty local sportswriter, Gloria Thorpe (a zestful Meghan Rozak), comes up with a hook for Hardy's public image: "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO."

As Hardy poses for endorsements (note Bolen's impressive painted set pieces) and carries the Senators closer to the pennant, he can't help missing his wife. Applegate calls upon Hell's signature femme fatale, Lola (Alyson Tolbert), to distract him. She details her experience working for Applegate in "A Little Brains, A Little Talent," a number that showcases Tolbert's excellent dancing capabilities but plays a bit more happy than seductive. Likewise, it's easy to understand Hardy's reluctance to "give in" to her advances in "Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)," as she poses as a naïve coquette with a squeaky, nondescript South American accent - it's even kind of sad when Applegate calls her on overdoing it, saying "They cut that from 'Carmen,' honey." The later Lola/Applegate duet "Two Lost Souls" plays much more comfortably, likely because Lola has admitted she's begun to empathize with Hardy.

Varney, though, never falters. After starring in two farces at CRT (How The Other Half Loves, Leading Ladies) he knows how to work the crowd. He's never sang at CRT before this show, though, and his confident vocals in "Those Were the Good Old Days" prove yet another strength. His comic delivery employs tenacious timing and highlights Applegate's joyful approach to causing trouble.

He also fits right into Zee's sleek costume design, everything from dress shoes to ringmaster cape using a combination of black and crimson. Zee's other colorful costume pieces - striped ties, plaid aprons, baseball uniforms, thick-framed glasses - place you promptly into the early 1950s.

Damn Yankees! runs about two and a half hours, but it contains enough singing, dancing, and comedy to maintain the fun. Fans of the show and first-timers alike should appreciate a version that proves "scaled down" can be a compliment.


The Broadway hit ‘Damn Yankees!’ at the Cortland Repetory Theatre. (Photo provided)