PhotosPHOTO EXCLUSIVE: "Gotta Have Heart!" Behind the Scenes at Goodspeed's Red Sox Reinvention of Damn YankeesGoodspeed Musicals' production of Damn Yankees, adapted by Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro to set the classic in 1952 Boston and pit the Yankees against the Boston Red Sox, plays Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT. Cast member Joven Calloway takes us backstage!
By
Matthew Blank
May 30, 2014
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PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: "Gotta Have Heart!" Behind the Scenes at Goodspeed's Red Sox Reinvention of Damn Yankees
Directed by Daniel Goldstein (Godspell) and choreographed by Kelli Barclay, performances continue through June 21. The musical kicks off the company's 2014 season.
The cast includes David Beach (Mamma Mia!, Urinetown, Moon Over Buffalo) as Applegate, Angel Reda (Chicago) as Lola, Stephen Mark Lukas (The Book of Mormon) as Joe Hardy, James Judy (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Into the Woods) as Joe Boyd, Ann Arvia (Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, Les Misérables) as Meg Boyd, Ron Wisniski (Something's Afoot, Me and My Girl, Finian's Rainbow) as Coach Van Buren, Lora Lee Gayer (Follies) as Gloria, Kristine Zbornik (A Catered Affair) as Sister and Allyce Beasley (La Cage aux Folles) as Doris. Rounding out the cast are Joven Calloway, Ryan Cavanaugh, Sean Ewing (West Side Story), Steve Geary (Contact, Aida, Miss Saigon, Cats), Timothy Hughes (Chaplin), Danny Lindgren, Michael Mendez (Chaplin), Alfie Parker Jr. (South Pacific) and Victor J. Wisehart. The swings are Colin Scott Cahill and Vanessa Dunleavy.
Here's how Goodspeed bills the musical: "Batter up! Just in time for baseball season comes the muscular musical comedy about a Red Sox super-fan who is transformed into a star slugger after he makes a deal with the devil — and his sexy associate, Lola. Goodspeed re-imagines a Broadway classic that swings for the fences, no matter which team you root for. In the game of love and baseball, you gotta have 'Heart' — but watch out for 'Whatever Lola Wants.'"
Damn Yankees is based on the novel "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant" by Douglass Wallop and features words and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, a book by George Abbott and Wallop and a book adaptation for the Red Sox version by Tony Award winner DiPietro.
Other members of the creative team include scenic designer Adrian W. Jones, costume designer David C. Woolard, lighting designer Brian Tovar, sound designer Jay Hilton, music director Michael O'Flaherty and assistant music director William J. Thomas. Orchestrations are provided by Dan DeLange.
Damn Yankees is produced for Goodspeed Musicals by Michael P. Price.
For more information and tickets, call (860) 873-8668 or visit Goodspeed.org.
The Fred Ebb Award recognizes excellence in musical theatre songwriting, by a songwriter or songwriting team that has not yet achieved significant commercial success.