Full casting has been announced for North Shore
Music Theatre's upcoming production of the classic musical comedy Damn Yankees, which will begin performances on April 25th and run through May 14th at the Beverly, MA theatre.Jim Walton, Shannon Lewis
and George Merrick are set to star in the show.
The first show of North Shore's 2006-2007, it will star the previously-announced Walton (Merrily We Roll Along, 42nd Street, Sweeney Todd) as Mr. Applegate, Lewis (Sweet Charity, Fosse, The Look of Love) as Lola and Merrick (national tour of Carousel) as Joe Hardy, as well as Becky Barta as Sister, Christy Faber as Gloria Thorpe, Mary Callanan as Doris, Steve Luker as Van Buren, Richard Pruitt as Joe Boyd and Kay Walbye as Meg Boyd. Rounding out the cast will be Noah Aberlin, Ryan Patrick Binder, Craig Kaufman, Kasey Marino, Matthew Sean Morgan, Leo Nouhan, Amanda Paulson, Kevin Steele, and Christopher Saunders.For the North Shore production, Joe DiPietro
has adapted the book from the original by George Abbott and Douglas Wallop;
Washington Senators fan Joe Boyd is now a Boston Red Sox fan in the
North Shore version. "NSMT puts a new spin on this hilarious and
heart-warming classic which
now tells the story of a die-hard Red Sox fan who makes a deal with the
devil to help the Sox take the pennant from the dreaded Yankees," state
press notes on the musical, which features a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross.
The creative team for Damn Yankees will also include Bruce Barnes (music director), Russel Parkman (scenic design), Vincent Scassellati (costume design), David Neville (lighting design), John A. Stone (sound design), Gerard Kelly (hair and wig Design), and Michael Goudzwaard (special effects design).Based on Douglass Wallop's novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, Damn Yankees won
the 1956 Tony Award for Best Musical, and received six
others--including awards for stars Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston, and for
choreographer Bob Fosse (Abbott was the director). The show ran for
1,019 performances and was successfully revived in 1994 with Bebe Neuwirth as Lola, Jarrod Emick as Joe and Victor Garber as Applegate. Tickets for the show are priced from $75 to $40: senior & youth discounts and rush tickets are available. Performances are April 25 – May 14, 2006: Tue – Thurs at 7:30pm, Fri & Sat at 8pm, matinees Wed at 1:30pm, Sat and Sun at 2pm. For tickets, visit www.nsmt.org, (978) 232-7200, or in person at 62 Dunham Rd. Beverly, MA 01915. There will be one ASL interpreted performance on May 13, 2006 at 2pm.
