Reprise! Broadway's Best

By Charles McNulty
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

November 9, 2007

In directing a play or musical from another era, too much faithfulness can sometimes be as damaging as too little. By slavishly adhering to every punctuation mark in a script, you may end up locking your staging into a state of utter irrelevance.

In the bubbly Reprise! revival of "Damn Yankees," which opened Wednesday at UCLA's Freud Playhouse, Jason Alexander, in his first season as the company's artistic director, takes substantial liberties. He updates the action from the 1950s to the 1980s, casts African American actors in principal roles and sprinkles in quite a few contemporary references, Britney Spears anachronistically among them.

He also changes the show's losing baseball team from the Washington Senators to the L.A. Dodgers. This not only flies in the face of a few facts (the Dodgers had an enviable record in the late '70s and early '80s), but it also has two teams from different leagues (the Yankees and the Dodgers) nonsensically vying for the same pennant.

To some die-hard fans, it might look as if Alexander doesn't know a thing about America's former favorite pastime. (The country has since moved on to HBO on Demand.) But the truth is that he has sharp theatrical instincts when it comes to comedy and connecting with an audience.

For the most part, the license he takes in his adaptation and direction is in keeping with the jaunty spirit of the original. Between the injection of fresh jokes into George Abbott and Douglass Wallop's book and the soulful face-lift that has been given to Richard Adler and Jerry Ross' score, the production, while far from perfect, has a rejuvenating effect. And isn't that the whole point of Reprise's mission of reacquainting us with the secret wonders of fading musicals?

"Damn Yankees" was a hit when it premiered on Broadway in 1955 and was later made into a film with most of the Broadway ensemble intact. But it's not a masterpiece (the book is patchy and the music is of variable quality), and any museum-like re-creation would probably seem hopelessly dated.

The show, which offers a retelling of the Faust legend, was historically notable for introducing Gwen Verdon's long and limber magnificence to Bob Fosse's choreographic razzmatazz -- a match that, if you'll forgive the overworked pun, turned out to have serious legs.

The iconic image of Verdon in a stripper's black tights against a devilishly red background -- the poster that assured sports-allergic theatergoers that there would be as much "Damn" as "Yankees" on hand -- is as memorable as the musical's two breakout hits, "Whatever Lola Wants" and "Heart."

Alexander's production, awash in tender feeling as well as lustful mischief, emphasizes that this tale of a middle-aged baseball nut who sells his soul to the devil is really a love story. Joe Boyd (a sumptuously voiced Ken Page) may call his wife Meg (the warmhearted Armelia McQueen) "old girl" and have little time for her whenever his team is playing, but in temporarily deserting his marriage for the chance to play in the big leagues and help the Dodgers finally beat those infernal Yankees, he begins to realize that there's nothing as tempting as his deep and enduring bond with the woman he loves.

Ty Taylor plays Joe Hardy, the athlete Joe Boyd transforms into courtesy of Applegate (a diabolically game Cleavant Derricks), a mid-level executive from Hell who's not so good at negotiating airtight deals. Taylor has a terrific voice and an endearing presence, though it takes a leap of faith to imagine this slight young man tearing up the field and, in truth, he doesn't always seem comfortable acting in a musical either.

Meg Gillentine, sporting various colored wigs, cuts an irresistible figure as Lola, the vamp Applegate sics on Joe to keep him from thinking about his wife. If she makes more of an impression with "A Little Brains, a Little Talent" than the more famous "Whatever Lola Wants," it's probably because Lee Martino's choreography overdoes the smuttiness.

But what a treat that there is so much dance in a Reprise! offering, especially in a show where it plays such a crucial role.

Among the supporting cast, Lillias White offers a gorgeous R&B version of "Heart"; Jackée Harry (yes, from the sitcoms "Sister, Sister" and "227") dissolves the audience in laughter with her every sassy double take; and Lesli Margherita talks tough convincingly as a woman reporter charging into locker rooms.

Alexander's first at bat may amount to a line-drive double rather than a home run, but it's definitely an impressive start. "Damn Yankees" encourages us to root not just for the home team but also for Reprise! to become a breeding ground for homegrown productions. The Wadsworth, Brentwood, Ricardo Montalbán and even Ahmanson theaters could all use a local supplier.

BY EVAN HENERSON THEATER CRITIC

In attacking "Damn Yankees" for Reprise! Broadway's Best, director Jason Alexander so clearly wants the 53-year-old musical all spiffed up and ready for the show. Between the multiethnic casting, some period updating and especially the new musical arrangements, Alexander and his crew certainly have swung for the fences. (New York producers are reportedly viewing this new version for a possible revival.)

The results, on stage at UCLA's Freud Playhouse for a three-week run, are good for a solid double, if not entirely a home run. Some of the pieces fit better than others, and "Yankees," new look and all, remains a crowd-pleasing yarn about baseball, scandal, youthful dreams and the importance of demanding an escape clause if you're going to be inking deals with the devil.

That would be one Mr. Applegate (played by Cleavant Derricks), who, answering the idle wish of aging Joe Boyd (Ken Page), transforms Boyd into the younger power-hitting version of himself, Joe Hardy (Ty Taylor), so that Boyd/Hardy can help the Dodgers take the pennant from the hated Yankees. In so doing, Boyd disappears, leaves his beloved wife, Meg (Armelia McQueen), without explanation.

Yes, in this version - which moves the action to 1981 and deliberately ignores the fact that the Dodgers and the Yankees don't play in the same league - local L.A. baseball and rabid team spirit come nicely into play. The players are wearing uniforms supplied by the Dodgers, one of the production sponsors. L.A. pennant fever we can certainly relate to, although in the case of the Dodgers, it's been a while since we've had a legitimate taste.

The period switch allows for some very promising adjustments to Richard Adler and Jerry Ross' score. The orchestrations by Douglas Besterman and Darryl Archibald - with music director Gerald Sternbach providing his usual steady hand - are enough to give these classic tunes a blast of fresh air.

Lesli Margherita (as intrepid news hound Gloria Thorpe) more than takes the hoedown bounce out of "Shoeless Joe From Hannibal, Mo." In that number, choreographer Lee Martino has her ensemble of ballplayers plowing their way through exercises, dance steps and cartwheels alike.

Even better is "Heart," which gets not only a jaunty un-barbershop rendering by Coach Burns (Hassan El-Amin) and the players, but a smashing gospelized reprise to close the first act. That reprise is sung by the mighty Lillias White who - even with comparatively little to do - becomes any musical's secret weapon.

And speaking of weapons, there's also Meg Gillentine's Lola, who unfolds her long and leggy frame out of a laundry basket and proceeds to gloriously eclipse every scene in which she appears. Playing Applegate's hired-gun temptress in an assortment of wigs and hot peel-away garments, Gillentine is smart, funny, cool and irresistible.

"Damn Yankees" still runs a bit long and gets a bit muddled in its plotting, but the foundation is strong, and the new music deserves a recording. Here's hoping that future Reprise! endeavors get a similar new approach when it's warranted.

LOS ANGELES TIMES REVIEW