Doug Wright ’85, a theater and art history double major, recently co-wrote a re-imagining of the classic 1950s Broadway Musical Damn Yankees, and 60 fellow members and family of the Class of 1985 gathered the weekend of September 20th in Washington, D.C. to watch the first matinee after opening night. Wright brought his co-writer Will Powers, choreographer Sergio Trujillo, and stars Bryonha Marie as Meg Boyd, Jordan Donica as Joe Hardy, Quentin Earl Darrington as Joe Boyd, Rob McClure as Applegate, Ana Villafañe as Lola, and other members of the cast together afterwards in a panel discussion to answer questions from classmates. The next day, classmates gathered at the noted Washington D.C. eatery Rosedale to discuss current events with Chief Judge James Boasberg ’85.
The original Damn Yankees Broadway musical opened in 1955, with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, and a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop. It told a Faustian tale set in 1950s Washington, D.C. A middle-aged baseball fan named Joe Boyd, frustrated by the hapless Washington Senators, sells his soul to the devil, disguised as a Mr. Applegate, to become young slugger “Joe Hardy.” With his new talent, he leads the Senators in their fight to finally beat the dominant New York Yankees.
As Joe rises to stardom, Applegate tries to trap him permanently by tempting him with the seductive assistant Lola, who sings and dances her way through numbers such as “Whatever Lola Wants.” Joe resists her and yearns for his real wife, Meg, creating tension around the question about whether he’ll return to his old life or remain Applegate’s prize.
Considering the dated gender conventions and language of the original, the producers sought out Wright to fashion a new version of the show for modern audiences. Wright has won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony for “My Own Wife,” followed by a string of critical and commercial successes on Broadway, including last year’s “Goodnight Oscar” now wowing critics and audiences alike in London.
To help him with the sports aspect of the show, Wright recruited as his collaborator playwright Will Powers, author of “Fetch Clay, Make Man,” the 2010 play about boxing icon Muhammad Ali. For five years, they traded thoughts, notes, and rewrites of the show. They changed the setting to the early 2000s, substituting the Baltimore Orioles for the Washington Senators. At the panel discussion, Wright noted, “Balt-i-more Or-i-oles has the rhythm and meter of Wash-ing-ton Sen-a-tors to fit the music.” The 2000’s marked a similar low point for the Baltimore team and a high point for the dominant Yankees.
They re-imagined Joe Hardy as the son of a standout player in the old Negro leagues, held back by race from a shot at the major leagues. They fleshed out the female characters to make them more contemporary in language and attitude while raising the prominence of the devil Applegate to amplify his conflict with Joe Hardy.
Wright noted at the panel, “the updates make it more of a revision than just a revival.” He wanted to keep the original fun, romance, and energy while addressing modern questions of race, identity, inclusion, and ethics. Wright went on to mention “the great Lynn Ahrens addressed problematic gender conventions in the original lyrics.”
After the show and panel, the large party broke into two groups to enjoy dinner at nearby Maker’s Union and Hank’s Oyster Bar in the nearby waterfront Wharf District. Class Co-Secretary Steven Nelson ’85 noted at dinner, “I know the show well from performing it in high school. The original Who’s Got the Pain number performed by Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon seemed dropped into the movie at random without any relation to the plot or characters. Doug, co-author Will Powers, and choreographer Sergio Trujillo, did a superb job of creating a new ensemble dance number that integrates the song and its referenced mambo dancing into Lola’s seduction of Joe.”
The next day, Chief Judge James “Jeb” Boasberg ’85, who presides over the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, hosted the Class at the famed Rosedale Restaurant in Northwest Washington, D.C., where he went from table to table at the meal to share his thoughts and answer questions from classmates.
Brian Hammerstein ‘85 organized the weekend, assisted by Class Treasurer Erik Kulleseid and Class Co-Secretaries Steven Nelson and Maria Burton. He noted, “Alumni need to know the tremendous administrative support available to organize class events outside of Reunions. Julisa De Los Santos of the YAA created an online form to sell tickets and the brunch to classmates, coordinated email promotion, and served as paymaster to the theater and restaurant. She made things very convenient for us.”
