THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507210194
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater review
SOURCE: Montague Gammon
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
While it is full of youthful energy, the Little Theatre of Virginia Beach summer musical ``Damn Yankees'' can be called a play of mature themes that might be best appreciated by a mature audience.
This is not to claim that anything in the show is unsuitable for children. Even the sultry seduction number and the drunken duet are obviously innocuous.
The show is still fun if one isn't old enough to remember when the New York Yankees so dominated baseball that it seemed only supernatural intervention could dethrone them, though audiences of 1995 might appreciate an explanatory program note or two.
``Damn Yankees'' is the ancient Faust fable recast in the uniquely American idoms of baseball and musical comedy. It adopts the theme that time-tested love, the affection and trust that has matured through decades of happy marriage, is the proverbial love that conquers all.
When middle-aged baseball fan Joe Boyd comments that he would sell his soul to help his beloved Washington Senators win the 1955 pennant, his bargain is promptly accepted. The influential and obliging ``Mr. Applegate'' is really offering Joe not just the opportunity to help his home team make good, but the more important chance to regain his youth and fulfill his life-long fantasy of playing major league ball.
Joe finally wins back his loyal and loving wife - it's not unfair to give away that much of the ending - and so the musical comedy turns into a touching paean to domestic stability and wedded bliss.
In its form, as well as in its content of sports history, the script is something of a museum piece. The plot links a series of songs and dance numbers that exist more to showcase the talents of the original performers than necessarily to advance the story. The roles themselves are a set of plums that offer performers enviable moments in the limelight.
Opening night gave the impression that all the parts of this particular production had not yet solidified. It was still worth watching and, by the end of the second act, the performances were showing a sense of unit and ensemble effort. Choral numbers, especially the early ``Six Months Out of Every Year,'' were distinguished throughout by an infectious enthusiasm and high energy level.
Karen Buchheim directed and took on the role of the seductress, Lola. The sensuous ``Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)'' is justly the most famous number from the show, which Buchheim sang and danced most compellingly.
Christopher Davis brought a sweet singing voice and an appropriate sense of innocent sincerity to his performance as Joe Hardy, the young athlete whom Joe Boyd becomes when his dreams are granted.
Enjoyable throughout, Davis gets his great moment to shine when he thinks he has lost his soul to Mr. Applegate. He and Lola perform a tipsy lament called ``Two Lost Souls.'' The dancing, the lighting by Sherry Forbes and the carefully modulated harmonies make this duet an exceptionally fine bit of theater.
Don Wilhoite, in the part of Joe Boyd, comes into his own in the second act, especially in his duet ``A Man Doesn't Know'' with Kay Burcher. Like Davis, Wilhoite grounds his characterization in a projection of sincerity and honesty.
Burcher, who plays the loyal Meg Boyd, has a strong voice that serves as the foundation for several songs with Davis, Wilhoite and chorus. Though the part is simply drawn, her acting is convincing.
Franklin Chenman makes Applegate an entertaining and surprisingly matter-of-fact spirit of evil. ``Those Were The Good Old Days,'' in which he relates some of his great successes such as the Hundred Years War and the Great Depression, is a crowd pleaser.
Carin Cowell plays the Boyds' neighbor, Sister Miller. Her performance is a delightful, finely crafted bit of comic consistency balancing on the edge of camp parody. Sandy Lawrence is especially funny as Rocky, one of the ballplayers, and his dancing is notably graceful and worthy of particular attention. Mark Graupmann is another ballplayer who gets in some particularly well-executed comic bits; only toward the end of the show is it clear that he is not just well cast but doing some sharp, subtle acting.
Buchheim choreographed the show except for her own dances in which Gwen Meng's choreography is especially fluid, imaginative and graceful. Musical director Kevin Long's abilities are best revealed in several neatly balanced duets, trios and choral numbers. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
AND WHERE
What: ``Damn Yankees,'' by George Abbott & Douglass Wallop,
words and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
When: Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 3 p.m. through Aug.
19
Where: Little Theatre of Virginia Beach, 24th Street and
Barberton Drive
Tickets: Cost is $10; $8 for seniors. Call 428-9233
by CNB