Damn Yankees at Paper Mill Playhouse

[skynyc]

Just home from a delightful production of this charming classic. Does it hold up? Yes, and no. Much of the music is wonderful, and it is very well-served here. I would give this an 85% out of 100. Meg, (the wife left behind) is played by Patti Coenhouer and is terrific. (She was the original Wednesday/Saturday matinee in Phantom...and was in Big River, Drood and Light on the Piazza.) Her husband, Joe Boyd is nicely handled by Joseph Kolinski, and Nancy Anderson, best know for Yank and Fanny HIll at the York, is Gloria Thorpe, the tenacious reporter, and another performance knocked out of the park. Ms. Anderson is one of the most talented young singer/actress/dancers working today.

 

Applegate, played by Howard McGillin (a long time Phantom, an opium addict in Drood and Lupone's Billy Crocker in Anything Goes) is good, but could have been great had some of the directorial choices not been questionable. He's a bit too campy, (though not as campy as Jack Hayes' turn in the role at Encores several years back.) There's no real menace in this devil, and that's too bad.

 

Lola, Chryssie Whitehead, looks the part and then some, she will make many a Jersey husband who's been dragged to the theater very happy. Her legs are as long as a NY block, and her curves are in all the right places. Her singing is fine, and her dancing is lovely. She just didn't have the spark that I would have loved from Lola. Perhaps she will loosen up a bit...it was only the fifth preview. I just felt she missed some of the humor, especially in Whatever Lola Wants. (And again, this may be the problem of the direction.)

 

The ball players are all terrific, particularly the coach, Van Buren.

 

But what you really want to go for is young Joe Hardy. This boy, Christopher Charles Wood, is someone to watch. VERY easy on the eyes, has a SENSATIONAL voice, and moves beautifully, although I wouldn't call him a dancer. When, in the first scene, they swap old Joe for young Joe during the number Goodbye, Old Girl, young Joe comes out and belts the last verse with such aplomb, that those in the audience who weren't gasping, were sighing.

 

The choreography is somewhat a mixed bag...the numbers with the ball players are TERRIFIC, whereas the numbers with Lola, don't build enough. The first act ender, Who's Got the Pain, is a stupid song, and silly dance, but it was a huge feature for Gwen Verdon doing Bob Fosse's choreography. (She did it in the movie.) But I have never really seen it work on stage. And again, it didn't here.

 

But soon we are back to the ball players and young Joe Hardy and Meg, and all was right with the world.

 

I have no qualms recommending this production. (Espeically if you can get a discounted ticket, like I did.) I think we may be hearing about Christopher Charles Wood for years to come.

 

Lots of rehearsal photos in this link:

http://broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Coverage-Meet-the-Company-of-Paper-Mills-DAMN-YANKEES-20120301

[leigh.bess.toad]

Thanks for the review skynyc. Wish I could get to NY to see it, but it probably won't happen. I have strong ties to Damn Yankees. It was the first musical I had ever been in, as a 10th grader. My music teacher basically gave the boys in the chorus no choice.

 

But the highlight for me was a couple of years later at the Shady Grove Music Fair in Gaithersburg, MD, when I got to see Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston do it. Gwen was obviously past her prime at that point but was still incredible. And Walston was still great as Applegate.

[skynyc]

Hey Lee...

I was in it in 10th grade, too. Played the coach. Mostly wonderful memories. And the gentleman in our production who was Applegate has gone on to do some Broadway. Fun to think of those times... Lots of "I wonder what happened to..."