{"id":6737,"date":"2013-07-27T11:26:31","date_gmt":"2013-07-27T18:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=6737"},"modified":"2013-07-27T23:23:42","modified_gmt":"2013-07-28T06:23:42","slug":"damn-yankees-hits-a-three-bagger-at-foothill-summer-musicals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/damn-yankees-hits-a-three-bagger-at-foothill-summer-musicals\/","title":{"rendered":"DAMN YANKEES hits a three-bagger at Foothill Summer Musicals"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Washington Senators coach “Van Buren” (left, Richard Lewis<\/strong>) with the Washington Senators in DAMN YANKEES <\/strong>at Foothill Music Theatre, <\/span>
\nplaying July 26 – Aug 18, 2013 in the\u00a0 Smithwick Theatre, Foothill College. Photo by David Allen<\/span><\/p>\n

DAMN YANKEES: Musical. \u00a0Book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop. \u00a0Music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross and based on the novel \u201cThe Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant\u201d by Douglass Wallop. \u00a0Directed by Tom Gough.\u00a0 Foothill Music Theatre and the Foothill College Theatre Arts Department. \u00a0Smithwick Theatre, \u00a0Foothill College 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022. \u00a0650-949-7360 or \u00a0www.foothillmusicals.com<\/a> .\u00a0\u00a0 Through August 18, 2013.<\/strong><\/p>\n

DAMN YANKEES hits a three-bagger at Foothill Summer Musicals<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year the era of Jay Manley summer musicals at Foothill College came to a close as he moved on to helm the Mountain Musical and other venues. \u00a0His departure left a gap. With this year\u2019s production of Damn Yankees<\/em>, using a baseball term, that gap has been ably filled by experienced director Tom Gough assisted by a talented artistic and technical staff.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Damn Yankees <\/em>is a fun show that ran for over 1000 performances on Broadway in 1955. In the intervening years it has had many professional mountings and has become a mainstay for local theatres around the country. \u00a0It has a breezy dynamic script with rousing songs interspersed with love ballads; vivacious Bob Fosse directed dance numbers and a plethora of humor. In the original production Ray Walston as \u201cMr. Applegate\u201d and Gwen Verdon as \u201cLola\u201d put their individual stamp on their roles and the show went on to win seven Tony Awards.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The story is fantasy fun with a delightful twist on the Faust legend. Aging baseball fanatic Joe Boyd (fine baritone Matt Tipton) is upset that his favorite team, the Washington Senators, is not in contention to win their division that includes the hated (Damn) Yankees. His avid addiction is verified when faithful wife Meg (Mary Melnick) and the ensemble sing \u201cSix Months Out of Every Year\u201d to throw in the first pitch to start the evening. What would Joe do to have his team win the pennant? He sells his soul to the devil Mr. Applegate (Jeff Clarke) and becomes a star all-around player Joe Hardy (Daniel Mitchell). \u00a0Apple gate, against his better judgment gives Joe an opt-out clause. Old Joe and young Joe sing a charming duet \u201cGoodbye Old Girl\u201d to Meg before a quick scene change to the baseball locker room.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have the ability of being a top notch team what do you need? You need \u201cHeart\u201d and full bodied manager Benny Van Buren (absolutely perfect Richard Lewis) leads the male ensemble making them believers. They become more believing when Joe Hardy enters hitting the practice balls out of the park. \u00a0\u00a0Contentious news reporter Gloria Thorpe (professional voiced Caitlin Lawrence-Papp) labels Joe as \u201cShoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO.\u201d\u00a0 And the Senators are off to the races climbing toward first place.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hey there has got to be conflict and that shows up after Joe reflects in song \u201cA Man Doesn\u2019t Know\u201d what he has until he\u2019s lost it.\u00a0 Applegate summons up the 150 year old Lola (Jen Wheatonfox) who was the ugliest girl in Rhode Island and has sold her soul for sexual beauty. With her powers of \u201cA Little Brains, A Little Talent\u201d (with an emphasis on the latter) she takes on the job of seducing our hero Joe Hardy singing and dancing \u201cWhatever Lola Wants.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first act ends with the rousing dance by Lola and Dance Corps giving their all in \u201cWho\u2019s Got the Pain?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a long first act with a 20 minute intermission before the ballplayers return for another hilarious ensemble number \u201cThe Game.\u201d \u00a0Jeff Clarke nails his irreverent solo number \u201cThose Were the Good Old Days\u201d backed up by the ensemble dancers in front of a flaming red silk backdrop. Shortly after the applause dies down choreographer Katie O\u2019Brien gets to show her ability using classic Fosse dance moves in the stunning production number \u201cTwo Lost Souls.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The production numbers interspersed throughout the story are classic musical comedy fare and director Gough keeps the action moving<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The devil Mr. Applegate (Jeff Clarke) calls in his sexy siren Lola (Jen Wheatonfox)<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

despite some technical glitches that include problems with the amplification. Daniel Mitchell with the physical appearance and strong tenor voice is almost perfect for the part of Joe Hardy. Wheatonfox is beautiful, has a grand interpretive soprano voice, but lacks the physical stature and dancing ability to carry-off the demanding role of Lola. She is further undercut by atrocious costumes (Janis Bergmann). For this reason, Damn Yankee\u2019s <\/em>just misses a home run. Running time 2 hours and 40 minutes including the intermission.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kedar K. Adour, MD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Courtesy of www.theatreinternetmagazine.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington Senators coach “Van Buren” (left, Richard Lewis) with the Washington Senators in DAMN YANKEES at Foothill Music Theatre, playing July 26 – Aug 18, 2013 in the\u00a0 Smithwick Theatre,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-kedar-k-adour"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"