Written by orange• March 15, 2025• 1:59 am• Musical, Review, Uncategorized

Damn Yankees @ Gem Theatre in Garden Grove – Review

Photo credit: Ronnie Lyon

Written by Patrick Chavis

Damn Yankees is playing now at the Gem Theatre from March 6 – April 13, 2025.

Expect plenty of Baseball references. I’m sorry, it must be done!

This scrappy, somewhat generic Broadway hit from the 1950s reveals deeper introspection. It’s not just a baseball play but a tale of lost generations that forgot what was important and the lost souls in their wake. It’s a piece that asks us to look for the heart, and Gem hits it right over the plate.

The musical Damn Yankees follows an aging Joe Boyd (William Jordan), a super fan for the baseball team, the Washington Senators. He was also, in the past, a halfway decent baseball player in his own right. He gets a bargain from Mr. Applegate (aka the Devil). In return for selling his soul, Mr. Applegate will turn him young and give him the talent to win games for the Washington Senators, especially against those damn Yankees, which was the most dominate baseball team at the time. Boyd agrees but not without an exit clause allowing him to retain his soul and old life. Will Boyd succeed and finally beat those damn Yankees? Is Boyd’s soul damned for eternity? What does Lola want? This and more in Damn Yankees.

Story:

When you watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (one of John Hughes’s most popular films from the 1980s, though, if that doesn’t register, you’ll probably know him from the Home Alone franchise) about halfway in, you realize, oh, this film isn’t about Ferris. It’s about Cameron, his depressed friend, and they go on adventures in 1980s Chicago. (By the way, it’s a great film, highly recommended!) I had a similar feeling with the musical Damn Yankees, and it’s both a strength and a weakness. On the surface, the play has this bargain-with-the Devil story line.

It is also a sweet love story about not realizing what we have and the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence, which gets most of the most focus. I would argue that one of the best tunes in the musical is “A Man Doesn’t Know (Reprise).” I’m talking about the first one because the musical has two reprises.

Acting:

Aaron Gibbs (Joe Hardy) and Rosie Quitana (Meg Boyd) sing this simple but touching duet about exactly what the title implies: their regret for taking the love they had for granted. Gibbs and Hardy knocked it out of the park.

Still, there’s the second story about Lola (Briana Bauer), who, like Boyd, sells her soul to the Devil. Watching it breaks your heart, giving the musical, dare I say it, heart, the much-needed substance the story needed.

However, the playwright missed an opportunity to flesh out Lola’s character, making the impact less powerful.

That being said, Briana Bauer delivers an unforgettable performance as Lola you won’t soon forget thanks to tunes like, “What Lola Wants, Lola Gets” and “Lost Souls.”

Set Design/Lighting:

The play is set on a baseball diamond. From the audience, you get a pitcher’s perspective on the mound as the batter comes up to hit the ball. To the left and right of the plate are two batting cages, all painted green but cleverly bruised to make it look not so perfect. The middle of the stage is a long green wooden fence. A surprise I won’t spoil is a brilliant use of darkness and light from lighting designers Jeremy Huff and Jacob Nguyen that you can see spilling all over this production. The picture below is one example of some of this beautiful lighting.

The live band is set in the back, invisible to the audience but not to the ears—gorgeous arrangements and playing from Conductor Nick Bravo and band the entire night.

Choreography/Costumes:

The dance choreography from Angela Mattern is the chef’s kiss tying so much of this together, from the comical but seductive dancing of Lola in ” Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets” in the first act to the many high-energy dance sequences with the baseball team. The most popular, I would say, is the song “Heart.” This group of baseball players brings the moxie. Ezion Garcia knows how to deliver quick and memorable lines as the fun-loving Smokey and Sean Hawkins’s (Rocky) dancing and vocals in the comedic song, “The Game,” does a great job of bringing out the spirit of this goofy but relatable tune.

From what I’ve been told, the costume work on this show was a team effort and what a team! From the delightful baseball uniforms, the 1950s style used in all the individual outfits, and the smooth red tux and clothes worn by Mr. Applegate (Trevin Stephenson) — the costuming was devilishly good.

Whether you’re a baseball fan or not, there’s much to love in One More Productions’s latest musical outing.