What is the plot of Damn Yankees?
Joe Boyd, an aging Washington Senators fan, would sell his soul for the Senators to beat the New York Yankees and win the pennant. Enter Applegate (Ray Walston), who offers to turn Boyd into Joe Hardy (Tab Hunter), a powerful young baseball player, in exchange for his soul. When Boyd agrees, he becomes Hardy and leads the Senators on a winning streak. When he starts to miss his wife, though, and questions the deal, Applegate sends temptress Lola (Gwen Verdon) into the mix.
Damn Yankees/Film synopsis
What inspired Damn Yankees?
Damn Yankees (retitled What Lola Wants in the United Kingdom) is a 1958 musical sports romantic comedy film directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen from a screenplay by Abbott adapted from his and Douglass Wallop’s book of the 1955 musical of the same name, itself based on the 1954 novel The Year the Yankees Lost …
When did Damn Yankees opening on Broadway?
May 5, 1955
The Tony Award-winning musical, starring Gwen Verdon and Stephen Douglass, opened at the 46th Street Theatre May 5, 1955. The original Broadway production of Damn Yankees opened at the 46th Street Theatre on May 5, 1955.
How old was Gwen Verdon when she died?
75 years (1925–2000)
Gwen Verdon/Age at death
Death. On October 18, 2000, Gwen Verdon died in her sleep at age 75 of a heart attack at the home of her daughter, Nicole, in Woodstock, Vermont. Later that night, at 8 pm, all marquee lights on Broadway were dimmed in a tribute to Verdon.
Who was Gwen Verdon’s boyfriend?
Gwen’s devoted boyfriend, Ron (played by Jake Lacy), is a composite mainly based on actor Jerry Lanning. “Even if you’re trying to stick to the facts, the obligation to make every part of the series work as an episode of television means that you’re going to have to change some things,” Nicole says.
Who are the main characters in the musical Damn Yankees?
In the Faustian baseball musical, Damn Yankees, Joe Boyd sells his soul to the devil to be the home run hitter that will guide his favorite team, the Washington Senators, to a win against those “damn Yankees.”
Is the movie Damn Yankees based on a true story?
The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League Baseball. It is based on Wallop’s 1954 novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant . The show ran for 1,019 performances in its original Broadway production.
What happens at the end of Damn Yankees?
Applegate angrily banishes Lola. By the end of the season, the Senators are on the verge of overtaking the Yankees, so their fans hold a lavish tribute (“Who’s Got the Pain?”). Gloria, having returned from Hannibal, Missouri, where no residents remember a Joe Hardy, confronts Applegate about the player’s true identity.
Who was the Devil in the movie Damn Yankees?
After seeing his team lose yet again, Joe rashly declares that he would sell his soul to the devil to see his team beat the Yankees. No sooner has he spoken than the devil appears before him in the guise of a suave conman, Applegate.