“Damn Yankees”

***** The year was 1960. It was my senior year at Glenbrook High School ( back when one school served Northbrook and Glenview) and I did not anticipate getting a lead role in the Spring musical, “Damn Yankees”, as I was new to GB ( in my senior year), but Ralph Lane saw something in my character role playing that made him feel that Applegate was the role for me. FYI- I was double Cast in the role with a Junior named Frank Galati ( yes, THE Frank Galati). The show went well and Herb Rogers from Music Theatre in Highland Park offered me an opportunity to work that summer in his musicals. Please understand that this play means a great deal to me, and I guess, always will.

The interesting thing about Theo Ubique is how they have always been able to take a huge musical and transform it to their intimate space ( both the old Glenwood Avenue and this new Evanston venue) and it works! For their current production of “Damn Yankees” they have altered the stage are so that instead of tables and seating “cabaret style”, the center area is now a stage shaped like a baseball infield and under the direction of  Daryl D. Brooks and the fine choreography by Christopher Chase Carter, the area is used to perfection allowing us to go from home to baseball park to other areas with great speed and ease. For those who don’t know the story, it is based on a book by Douglass Wallop “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant” and tells the story of a devout fan ( we know what that is in Chicago) who is willing to sell his soul to see his team beat the Yankees for the pennant.

Wallop , together with George Abbott wrote the book for the musical version and the music and lyrics were by Richard Adler & Jerry Ross. There are some wonderful songs that many of us know, but did not know they were from this musical. Think about (You Gotta Have) “Heart”, “Whatever Lola Wants” and “Who’s Got The Pain” and this particular production, one about as intimate as one can get with “Near To You”. Joe Boyd ( well portrayed by Thomas M. Shea, who also plays Mr. Welch) loves his wife, Meg ( deftly handled by Megan Hoyt), but loves his baseball team ( the Washington Senators ) wanting only to surpass the New York Yankees at least once in his life. When offered the opportunity to see that happen by Mr. Applegate, the Devil ( well played by Tommy Thurston), he become Joe Hardy ( played to perfection by Luke Nowakowski) and the greatest baseball player ever!

The team hires him and soars to new heights . Joe misses his home and Meg and becomes a roomer in his old house. He did have an escape clause in his devilish agreement and as it appears he will use it, Applegate brings in Lola (Jenny Couch is amazing and her dancing talent truly shines) to seduce him. I won’t give away the ending, but will tell you that you will have a ball watching this sparkling production that would have had  Fred Anzevino ( Theo’s founder) smiling widely. This might be an older musical ( let’s face it, I did Applegate back in 1960) but might be one of the greatest love stories on a stage.

The ensemble of this production truly shines. Theo always has great talent. Alex Madda is a glorious Gloria Thorpe, the reporter who needs to get the goods on this player who’s shoes didn’t fit. The “Shoeless Joe” number is powerful and shows what can be done on a small stage with “A Little Brains, A Lot of Talent” ( the actual song is a little talent), with an emphasis on the later. Madda is top notch. The baseball players Jon Parker Jackson, Jacob Merschel, Spencer Curtis, Quinn Rigg Brady Magruder and their manager Reginald Hemphill are terrific ( they do “Heart” as well as “The Game”.  Ensemble members Sophia Mae Brenner and Audrey Soberg take on may roles and Madison Brunner and Shannon McEldowney are Meg’s besties from Hannibal Missouri. This cast of 16 will astound you as they bring this large scale musical to the intimate space at Theo.

On the tech side, the set by Manuel Ortiz works converting this cabaret space to a staged venue. Marquecia Jordan’s costumes are divine. The baseball uniforms look very 1950’s and the props ( Ab Rieve) are genius. The baseball gloves are truly old fashioned. The lighting (Ellie Fey) and sound  (Aria Broxterman) are perfect and the intimacy designer/director, Elena Patterson, quite realistic. The band led by Ryan Brewster (keyboards) , featuring Ben Heppner ( percussion), Gabe D. Ramos ( trombone) and Will Schmalbeck (trumpet) made one feel that there was a full orchestra.

“Damn Yankees” will continue at Theo Ubique thru July 5th with performances as follows:

Fridays       7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  7:30 p.m.

Sundays    6:00 p.m.

NO PERFORMANCES ON June 19th and July 4th

All performances are at The Fred Anzevino Theatre located at 721 Howard Street in Evanston.

To order tickets call 773-939-4101 or visit www.theo-u.com.

Run time 2 1/2 hours with intermission.

Street parking is easily available, but check meters as one side of the street is Evanston, the other Chicago.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click “Damn Yankees”.