Damn Yankees hits a home run for Guilderland Players

GUILDERLAND — Despite snow still on the ground, spring is in the air. The Guilderland baseball team is practicing for the season ahead, and the community is invited to a production of Damn Yankees that will make playgoers feel like they’re at the ballpark.

“Three years ago, Bob Oates and I were hanging camouflage netting that had been used in South Pacific, and we talked about how much fun it was to transform the audience into part of the show,” said Director Andy Maycock. “I said we should do Damn Yankees and sell hot dogs.”

And so they are — and then some.

Oates has come out of retirement to choreograph another Guilderland Players’ production. The audience is encouraged to arrive a half-hour before show time. Maycock’s kids — 8-year-old Abbie and 10-year-old Avery — will be selling hot dogs then, as part of a PTSA fund-raiser. Popcorn and soda will also be on sale.

Baseball players from the show will be on stage, warming up, and the sounds of a ballpark organ will be heard along with 1950’s commercial jingles.

“Come early and come hungry,” urged Maycock. “We’re calling it the baseball experience.”

The show, which Maycock described as “a classic American musical,” was a Broadway hit in 1955, with lyrics and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross  following their success with The Pajama Game, and a book by George Abbott and Douglas Wallop, based on Wallop’s novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant. 

An American version of the German legend where Faust sells his soul to the devil, the musical is set in the nation’s capital a half-century ago when the Yankees dominated Major League Baseball and the Washington Senators were at the bottom.

 “A disgruntled Senators fan, in a fit of rage says, ‘I would sell my soul if we had one home-run hitter,’” said Maycock describing the plot. Joe Boyd is the middle-aged fan, a happily married real-estate agent.

He suddenly meets a slick salesman, Mr. Applegate, and is convinced to sell his soul to become a young slugger, Joe Hardy. “They never say Mr. Applegate is the devil, but he shows up and says, ‘I’ll make you a deal,’” said Maycock. “Because Joe’s a real-estate guy, he puts in an escape clause,” which gives him the chance to return to his old life by a certain time. 

Applegate is played by David Alliger, a senior who had the lead in last year’s musical. “He plays a good con man,” said Maycock.

 Sean Teeter, a junior and the son of Rae Jean Teeter, a Guilderland music teacher who has in the past been the music director for the Guilderland Players but is not involved this year, plays the part of Joe Hardy. 

“He has one of the great voices in the show,” said Maycock of Sean Teeter. “He likes being that baseball hero. That’s every guy’s dream.”

 Maycock went on, describing the story line, “Joe is a huge star. In no time, the Senators are contending for the pennant.”

But he misses his wife, Meg. Joe’s 22 now, not in his 50s. He rents a room from his wife in his old house.

Katie Matthews, a senior, plays Meg. “Katie has a great voice and she’s one of those kids who’s always looking to help where she can — carrying scenery, painting...no ego...She was in the chorus for Hello Dolly! and, if we were missing a viola during rehearsal, she’d go off the stage, down to the pit, and play the viola.”

Maycock went on, describing the plot of Damn Yankees, “Meg misses her husband. She figures it’s a mid-life crisis. And he misses her. This infuriates Mr. Applegate. So Applegate calls in his most successful temptress, Lola, to make him forget about his wife. She tries to seduce Joe. It doesn’t work.”

Lola is played by Valerie Wolanski, a senior who has been in the show for three years. Maycock anticipates she’ll be a big hit with the eighth-graders who make up the final dress-rehearsal audience.

“We give out The Dreamboat Award to whoever gets the loudest hoots during curtain calls,” he said. 

Returning to the story line, Maycock said, “Applegate finds a way to get Joe past the escape-clause deadline. He’s given his soul away. So the problem becomes — How is he going to undo this? Is he going to give up on his team? Lola at this point is on Joe’s side... 

“I don’t want to give away the ending, but, basically, true love wins every time,” said Maycock. 

The players, he said, have “joked about” the relevance of the current steroids scandal to the play’s theme. “You become the hero everyone wants to be in the blink of an eye but you’re giving up your future for it,” said Maycock.

 Maycock writes in his director’s notes about what he sees as the heart of the story: “This is a musical about acknowledging what you have, and getting a second chance to appreciate it. Joe Boyd may have a chance to relive his youthful potential (maybe the show should be called Damn Midlife Crisis!), but in the end, it’s his love for Meg that brings him back to earth.”

 “Something for everybody”

 “She has a lot of enthusiasm,” said Maycock. “Yesterday, she sat in the pit, reading the score, making sure everyone is accurate.”

 The 1955 original was Bob Fosse’s first Broadway hit as a choreographer.  Guilderland’s Bob Oates “loves that jazzy stuff,” said Maycock. Oates is a retired Guilderland administrator and physical-education teacher.

 “Bob says, ‘The music tells you what to do,’” said Maycock. “It doesn’t tell me but it speaks to him. He’s an inspirational guy...He buys hardware. He stays late to work on scenery. He’s tireless.”

 Jim VanHorne, a technical-education teacher at the high school, is in charge of the scenery. “He’s used to building sheds and big things. He does computer-aided design,” said Maycock. “The kids have a lot of respect for him.”

Maycock, an English teacher, is grateful for the expert help from Dineen, Oates, and VanHorne. “I got engaged on Valentine’s Day to a lovely woman,” said Maycock. He doesn’t see as much of Beth Martin as he’d like in the lead up to this weekend’s production.

 The musical, he said, will please all tastes.

 “We have some scenes with romantic songs sung by sweet, sincere talented kids,” said Maycock. “And we have songs that are funny with the ballplayers and Applegate... 

“Anyone who comes to see the musical will be entertained. There are heartfelt duets; there’s humorous slapstick; and there are goofy one-liners. There’s something for everybody.” 

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 Playgoers are invited to come a half-hour early to enjoy hot dogs, soda, and popcorn as they watch the baseball players warm up and listen to ballpark tunes.

Tickets cost $7 at the door. Seats can be reserved by calling the high school at 861-8591, ext. 1004.