'Yankees' hopes to load bases, steal show

The Broadway hit of the 1950s, Damn Yankees, brings with it a sense of Americana to Stage West.

By JOY DAVIS-PLATT

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 10, 2000

[Times photo: Maurice Rivenbark] Jason Yungmann plays Joe Hardy, a real estate agent transformed into a slugger.

SPRING HILL -- Stage West Community Playhouse is hoping to hit a home run with its second musical of the season, Damn Yankees.

Director Jan Lavin said the show's all-American style should play well with local audiences.

"People love the show. They love the music," said Lavin, who directed last season's musical revue Today on Broadway and played Rose in Gypsy. "Let's face it, baseball is the American pastime."

Damn Yankees is a variation on Goethe's Faust. Set in the 1950s, it tells the musical story of middle-aged Washington Senators fan Joe Boyd who sells his soul to the devil -- otherwise known as Mr. Applegate -- in return for a chance to lead the Senators to victory over New York's "damn Yankees." Boyd, a real estate agent by trade, even negotiates an "escape clause" that will allow him to return home to his wife after the season.

Transformed into a young, Brylcreemed hitter and outfielder, Joe -- now named Joe Hardy -- leads the Senators to a string of victories. Meanwhile, the devilish Applegate recruits Lola, his sexy minion, to lure Joe away from his wife and invalidate the escape clause.

Heather Philipsen, who starred in Barefoot in the Park and played Adelaide in Guys and Dolls at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre in Hudson, makes her Stage West debut as Lola. Though she is a temptress in league with the devil, Philipsen said Lola still has a human side.

"There is a bit of sorrow there," said the 25-year-old. "Nobody's ever going to love her the way Joe loves his wife and somewhere in her heart, she knows that."

Jason Yungmann, known locally for his lead roles in South Pacific at the Show Palace and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Stage West Community Playhouse, plays the starry-eyed Joe Hardy. Though he earns his living as a seventh-grade teacher at Parrot Middle School, 25-year-old Yungmann said he can relate to Joe's dreams of making it to the big leagues.

"Joe is completely dedicated to baseball," said Yungmann, who played youth league baseball when he was young. "That is his life, and everything else goes on hold."

Yungmann said the show, which premiered on Broadway in 1955 and harkens back to the conservative, apple-pie virtues of Eisenhower's America, is an eye-opener for someone his age.

"It's interesting to look back and see what life was like back then," he said. "You get a real feel for how things must have been."

Jim Wanker makes his Stage West debut as Mr. Applegate and his one solo number, Those Were the Good Old Days, plays as more sardonic than satanic.

"I like this character," he said, wearing a black fedora and an impish grin. "Everything revolves around me and I get to be nasty."

AT A GLANCE

The musical Damn Yankees opens Thursday and continues Thursdays and weekends through April 2 at Stage West Community Playhouse, 8390 Forest Oaks Blvd., Spring Hill. Shows are at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $14 for adults and $7 for students 17 and younger. The theater's box office is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and one hour before each show. Call 683-5113.

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