DAMN YANKEES Opens at TriArts Sharon Playhouse Tonight

The bases are loaded with musical theatre magic as TriArts Sharon Playhouse, under the leadership of Alice Bem and Executive Director and John Simpkins Artistic Director, presents the Tony Award-winning musical Damn Yankees from August 14-25 on the TriArts Mainstage (49 Amenia Road, Sharon).

Damn Yankees is directed by John Simpkins (The Black Suits) with choreography by M.K. Lawson (Tri-Arts Best Little Whorehouse and Rent) and music direction by Eric Kang (Tri-Arts Altar Boyz).

Based on the 1954 novel "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant" by Douglass Wallop, Damn Yankees features a hit score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross with book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop. Damn Yankees award-winning score includes "Heart," "Whatever Lola Wants," "Those Were the Good Old Days," and "Two Lost Souls."

Some men really like their baseball. Middle-aged baseball fanatic Joe Boyd trades his soul to the devil for a chance to lead his favorite team to victory in the pennant race against the New York Yankees. As young baseball sensation Joe Hardy, he transforms the hapless Washington Senators into a winning team, only to realize the true worth of the life he's left behind.

This classic musical comedy is a modern retelling of "Faust," and delivers great entertainment set against America's great pastime.

Starring Broadway's Dale Hensley as Applegate, Damn Yankees also features Jarrad Green as Joe Hardy, Jane Kivnick as Lola, John Champion as Joe Boyd, Audrey Heffernan Meyer as Meg Boyd, Maria Malanga as Gloria Thorpe, David Fanning (Van Buren), Duane Estes(Mr. Welch), Dave Cadwell (Commissioner), Emily Soell (Sister), Francine Ciccarelli (Doris), Casey Grambo (Miss Weston). The ensemblePhilip Colgan, Dan Coombs, Ryan Curley, Kenny Francoeur, Garrett Hill, Emily Neuberger, Jake Satterfield, George Slotin, Madeleine Sykes, Eric Brian Waters, Kaylee Verble. The Youth ensemble features Chloe Chinn, Abigail Iris Creech, Sam Everett, Serafina Fauci,Tessa Fountain, Skyler Fountain, Zachary Goldsmith, Anna Goldstein, Peter Kiewra, Sarah Meili, Elizabeth Schwartz, Elijah Stone,Maggie Turoff, and Dana Wilton.

The design team includes Erik Diaz (Sets), Michelle Humphrey (Costumes), Chris Dallos (Lights), Brad Berridge (Sound). Helen Jones is production stage manager.

Dale Hensley (Applegate) has appeared on Broadway in La Cage aux Folles (2010 revival), The Drowsy Chaperone, La Cage (2005 revival),Sunset Blvd., Guys and Dolls, Cats, and Anything Goes. He has toured in La Cage, Drowsy Chaperone, The Full Monty, Big, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sugar Babies, and was in the Vegas company of Hairspray. He has sung with Patti LuPone at Carnegie Hall, with the NY Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion at Town Hall, and has appeared in 10 City Center Encores. On TV, Dale has been on Law & Order: SVU, Guiding Light, and All My Children. Regional theatre favorites: Hairspray (North Carolina Theatre),42nd Street (Goodspeed), Candide (Connecticut Rep), The Immigrant (Westport), Victor/Victoria (Paper Mill), and 1776 (Williamstown).

Damn Yankees opened at Broadway's 46th Street Theatre (now Richard Rodgers) May 5, 1955, winning 7 1956 Tony Awards including Best Musical, starring Ray Walston, Stephen Douglass and Gwen Verdon, with choreography by Bob Fosse. Warner Brothers 1958 film version starred Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston, with heartthrob Tab Hunter as Joe Hardy. A 1994 Broadway revival starred Victor Garber, Jarrod Emick and Bebe Neuwirth and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical.

Damn Yankees runs from August 14 through 25. Performances days/times are Wednesday at 2pm, Thursday at 2pm and 7pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm, and Sunday at 1pm and 5pm. Tickets are $20-$47 and available at www.triarts.net or 860-364-7469.

The TriArts Sharon Playhouse is located at 49 Amenia Road (Route 343). Performances are Wednesday through Sunday (performance times vary). For more information about the theatre and season, please visit www.triarts.net or call (860) 364-SHOW (7469).

The Playhouse also continues its unique partnership with NYU Steinhardt, enabling college students from Universities around the country to earn college credit for their participation in the 2013 Collegiate Company.

TriArts Sharon Playhouse is theatre by and for everyone. It is a "teaching theatre" (like a "teaching hospital") designed to further the growth of artists, both onstage and offstage. Novice actors of all ages are trained and mentored, experienced actors find opportunities to enhance their careers and emerging writers showcase their work. It is a professional theatre -- producing quality musicals with Broadway caliber talent. It is a place where musical theatre is celebrated and tomorrow's generation of actors and audiences is born.

Photo by: Randy O'Rourke

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