By Holly Tishfield

If you’ve ever caught yourself wondering what, exactly, you’d trade to see your favorite baseball team win the World Series, have you ever considered giving up your very soul? That’s exactly the conundrum Joe Boyd, played by Bob O’Hara, faces in this month’s show-stopping “Damn Yankees” musical at Alhambra Theatre & Dining.

Based on the novel, “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant” by Douglass Wallop, “Damn Yankees” is set in 1950s America and revolves around the life of old-timer Joe Boyd, who wants to help his favorite baseball team, the Washington Senators, win the pennant race against the New York Yankees so badly that he makes a deal with the Devil, known as Mr. Applegate, to turn him into a young player now renamed Joe Hardy, played by Thaddeus Walker. Mr. Applegate, played by Allan Baker, helps Boyd get a spot on the Washington Senators team and he helps lead the team to victory — but his life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, even if he does help the Senators beat those damn Yankees.

Boyd misses his wife — Meg, played by Lisa Valdini Booth — and soon discovers that Mr. Applegate isn’t just after a victory against the Yankees, but actually wants to keep Joe’s soul in his grasp for all eternity.

This romantic comedy plays on the highs and lows of American baseball with musical numbers such as “Showless Joe from Hannibal, Mo,” “Who’s Got the Pain?” and “Those Were the Good Old Days.” It first opened on Broadway in 1955 and boasts seven Tony awards, with an all-star cast at Alhambra including Charity Walton, Natalie Drake, Alec Hadden, Patti Eyler, Maureen McCluskey and many more.

The show comes to life on Alhambra’s stage with dazzling set pieces, ‘50s-style costumes and musical talent that’ll have you dancing along in your seats.

Setting the scene, Chef DeJuan Roy prepares a meal with appetizer choices of minestrone soup or salad, entree choices including chicken Provencal or herb and breadcrumb haddock, and dessert of Cracker Jake cake or apple crumb pie.

“Damn Yankees” is playing at Alhambra now through April 5, and tickets are available on the theatre’s website.