AIRAN SCRUBY
News Editor
This year’s fall musical features 1950s Americana, baseball, the devil, a man in white, flying scenes and a cast with ample experience as well as many fresh faces.
The musical, “Damn Yankees,” will open tonight and will run Nov. 9 to 11 and 16 to 18. The production has been an ambitious project for the Pepperdine theater department, full of scene and costume changes, as well as the challenge of successfully mixing song and choreography with acting.
Participants in the production say the result of months of work on the project is an enjoyable evening for attendees.
“It’s a good stress reliever, to come and sit and hum and let people sing and dance for you for a few hours,” said Cathy Thomas-Grant, theater professor and director for “Damn Yankees.”
Junior Alex Fthenakis, an assistant stage manager and deck manager for the musical, said the scenery and sets made the show especially interesting, because so many different sets are used throughout the course of the play.
“It adds an extreme amount of variety,” Fthenakis said. “It’s surprising every five minutes.”
Grant said research on 1950s use of color and advertising was done to create a nostalgic, historic feel in the production.
The play focuses on the story of a man named Joe, who loves his Washington Senators and who always wanted to play professional baseball. When Joe gets the chance to help his team beat the Yankees and make his dream come true, he decides that making a deal with the devil is worth the opportunity, even if it means risking his soul. However, through the course of a baseball season, Joe comes to realize that having everything he has ever wanted may not mean he has what is most important to him.
“Damn Yankees,” a winner of seven Tony Awards, made its debut on Broadway in 1955. The musical, a comedy, was based on the 1954 book by Douglass Wallop, “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant.” Wallop partnered with George Abbot, as well as songwriters Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, to pen the stage version of his book, and the work was eventually made into a movie and brought back to Broadway for a revival in 1994.
Grant said the Pepperdine rendition of the musical is mostly traditional, but features a major twist.
“I’ve taken one liberty with the script,” Grant said. “I’ve added one character, the Man in White.”
Grant said the character represents a balance to Mr. Applegate, the Devil in the story. The Man in White has no lines, but appears in many scenes, sometimes as a presence, representative of the choices the characters must make. In other scenes, the Man in White is a character, sometimes a window washer or delivery man.
Grant said his presence is part of a theme of the play, the struggle between good and evil, and also exposes a theme of dishonesty— simply by being there he shows that Joe has an opportunity to make a choice.
“It’s also about dishonesty and baseball,” Grant said. “There is this desire for people who watch that game, they want so much for it to be honest and pure. It’s a metaphor about life.”
Senior Tim Campbell plays Joe, and said the decision to include a new character and focus on the themes of the script was a good one.
“It’s a bold choice, but I think it works well for the concept we have in the show,” Campbell said.
Campbell said the production is well-balanced, featuring strong themes as well as fun moments. He attributed the balance to the musical’s cast, “This year, just the raw energy of the ensemble, the characters, make it a great show,” Campbell said.
Casting for the show was especially competitive this year. According to Grant, 103 students auditioned for 33 parts offered in the musical. While many performers will be familiar to Pepperdine audiences and have long histories participating in theater in Malibu, others are newcomers.
Ken Korpi, a freshman, plays Joe in his old age. His part includes acting, singing and memorizing choreography, in his first role at Pepperdine.
“I was very excited,” Korpi said about winning a part in the musical production. “It’s really a great opportunity.”
Senior Amanda Allen has more experience, having worked as part of “The Music Man,” “The Grapes of Wrath,” and “Necessary Targets” in previous years.
Allen is part of the comedy of the play. She is “Sister,” a baseball fanatic and gossipy neighbor who spends most of her time talking baseball with her sister.
Allen said she has enjoyed playing a comical character, and that she is proud of the abilities of the cast.
“The musical is always the biggest cast of the year,” Allen said. “We really have all brought something to it.”
The way the cast has personalized the script has made the musical more memorable and unique, Allen said.
The intricate scene design in the production also promises to be memorable, according to assistant stage manager Fthenakis. Because the play requires so many different scenes to account for the many locations that are key to the production, the decision was made to use “fly sets,” which suspend from the ceiling and are dropped into place, then raised to be used later or to change a scene.
This is a departure from the usual, simpler system of using turntable stages, which allow more time and double-checking for workers backstage.
Fthenakis said the system has created hectic backstage work, but will be worthwhile for students.
“It’s absolutely nuts,” he said. “Every scene has at least one fly piece in the air.”
Fthenakis’ co-assistant stage manager, junior Barbara Harvey, agreed.
“We have a lot of set pieces, and they’re really interesting for audiences,” Harvey said.
Harvey also stressed the lighthearted side of the award-winning musical.
“There are some really humorous and just great musical numbers,” she said.
The production also features a few numbers which allow for audience participation. Audience members are invited to sing along for the national anthem at the beginning of the show, and intermission is treated like a ‘Seventh Inning Stretch,’ complete with the chance to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” with members of the cast.
Sandy Modic, who plays Mr. Applegate’s sultry sidekick, Lola, also recommended the production for it’s sense of fun.
“It’s an extremely fun show,” she said. “Even though musicals can be a little corny sometimes, it’s got such great themes.”
Tickets are on sale through the Pepperdine box office for $10 for students, and $16 for faculty and staff. General admission costs $20. For more information, call the box office at ext. 4522.
11-09-2006