damn yankees!

On Wednesday last week since Jon was working late, I took myself out to see a show. I’d seen the movie Damn Yankees before so when I got a mailer about the Broadway play, I decided I’d like to see it on stage.

The Playbill website says “the musical, according to press notes, is described as such: "It is the story of Joe Boyd, the ultimate baseball fan, who sells his soul to the Devil (Sean Hayes) for the chance to help his team, the Washington Senators, win the pennant race against the Yankees. The Devil is aided by the sexy Lola (Jane Krakowski), who seduces Joe (Cheyenne Jackson), but ultimately helps him outsmart the Devil and return to his beloved wife (Randy Graff)."



This cast was packed with stars. Sean Hayes was on Will and Grace, Jane Krakowski is on 30 Rock, Ana Gasteyer from SNL, and Cheyenne Jackson is from other Broadway shows like Xanadu. I thought they were all stupendous. Sean Hayes was absolutely hilarious and almost schizophrenic as he played out the various trickeries of the devil. Not only did he do a lot of slight of hand, he sang and danced (which we knew he did from Will and Grace) but he also played the piano expertly! He was quite the showman. Watching Jane Krakowski made me think of the triumph that was last summer Mystic Pizza the musical (30 Rock anybody?). I kept expecting Liz Lemon to walk on stage at any moment. While Sean Hayes was my favorite I was also quite smitten by Cheyenne Jackson’s performance. He was just so much fun to watch! If he is returning to Xanadu I’ll definitely make plans to go see it.

Jon would have loved it. It was funny and clever with no extended dance scenes. :o) Unfortunately, the play was only on for about 4 week, including a week of previews, otherwise I would have gone back to see it again. From what I gather, the NY City Center does a lot of revivals so I don’t think that will be my last time at that theater.