Damn Yankees

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Damn Yankees is a musical comedy, a modern retelling of the Faust legend set in Washington, D.C., with book by Douglass Wallop and George Abbott and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. It was based on Wallop's novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant.

The plot concerns a long suffering middle-aged fan of the Washington Senators baseball club, Joe Hardy, who sells his soul to the Devil to enable the Senators to win the American League pennant.

It opened on Broadway in 1955 starring Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston, and won Tony awards for "Best Musical" and for "Best Composer and Lyricist". The musical also featured a young Jean Stapleton before her career-defining role of Edith Bunker in All in the Family.

A made-for-TV movie version was filmed in 1967. Phil Silvers played the role of "Mr. Applegate", the earthly form of Satan.

The stage version was revived in 1994 featuring Bebe Neuwirth in the role of seductive temptress Lola.

The film version

With the exception of Tab Hunter in the role of Joe Hardy, (replacing Stephen Douglass), the Broadway principals reprised their stage roles. The film, directed by George Abbott, was released in 1958. One notable difference between film and play was Gwen Verdon's performance of the song, “A Little Brains”. In the stage version, Verdon’s performance of the number was marked by suggestive hip-movements (as choreographed by Bob Fosse). In 1958, these hip-movements were considered too risqué for a mainstream American film. Therefore, in the film version, she simply pauses at these points.

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