{"id":863083,"date":"2026-09-28T02:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T02:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/863083\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T02:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T02:50:09","slug":"neil-patrick-harris-to-star-in-damn-yankees-broadway-revival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/863083\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Patrick Harris to Star in ‘Damn Yankees’ Broadway Revival"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA revival of \u201cDamn Yankees<\/a>,\u201d starring Neil Patrick Harris<\/a> and Julianne Hough, will open next spring on Broadway<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s the first Broadway revival of \u201cDamn Yankees\u201d in more than 30 years. Following last fall\u2019s run at D.C.\u2019s Arena Stage, this revised production features a book by Will Power and Dough Wright, with additional lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and direction and choreography by Sergio Trujillo. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDamn Yankees,\u201d which revolves around a middle-aged man who makes a Faustian bargain for his losing baseball team to somehow beat the unstoppable New York Yankees, debuted on Broadway in 1955 with Robert Shafer, Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston and Stephen Douglass. It won seven Tony Awards, including best musical. Richard Adler and Jerry Ross wrote the music and lyrics, with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop. The show was last revived on Broadway in 1993 with Jarrod Emick, Bebe Neuwirth and Victor Garber.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2019Damn Yankees\u2019 has always been one of our great American musicals, but I wasn\u2019t interested in simply reviving it,\u201d says Trujillo. \u201cThis \u2018revisal\u2019 preserves the heart, wit and soaring score that audiences love and is a real opportunity to bring joy back into the theater. \u2018Damn Yankees\u2019 is a celebration of America, and I hope audiences see themselves in it and remind them of the magic that only a great American musical can deliver. Let\u2019s play ball!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis revival moves the original 1950s-set story into the 21st century. Here\u2019s the official logline: \u201cIt\u2019s the early 2000s, and diehard baseball fan Joe Boyd dreams of seeing his beloved Baltimore Orioles return to glory. So when a charming stranger and his captivating accomplice arrive with an offer too good to refuse, Joe makes a deal that could give both him and his team a second chance. There\u2019s just one catch\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHarris will play the devil in disguise known as Applegate, Hough is making her Broadway debut as Lola and Austin Scott is playing Young Joe. The rest of the cast has yet to be announced.<\/p>\n

\n\tHarris won a Tony for the 2014 revival of \u201cHedwig and the Angry Inch\u201d and has hosted the Tony Awards several times. He was recently on Broadway in \u201cArt,\u201d a play revival in which he starred alongside James Corden and Bobby Cannavale.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve never done the big Broadway musical, with a big ensemble and dance numbers. It\u2019s been a bucket list for me,\u201d Harris said during a press conference on Sunday at Yankees Stadium. Of his character, he added, \u201cPlaying someone who is devilish is always good. It\u2019s fun to be naughty. I want Applegate to be as alluring and puppet-mastery as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDamn Yankees\u201d will play at the Marquis Theatre, with previews beginning on March 24 ahead of opening night on April 20. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn a first for Broadway, Major League Baseball and its production label MLB Studios will serve as a partner on the production.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBaseball is mythology. Broadway is mythology. They both deliver thrilling, unrepeatable live entertainment to millions of fans each year,\u201d said Haley Swindal, who serves as lead producer with Lia Vollack (\u201cMJ\u201d) and Julie Boardman. \u201cBringing them together \u2014 with MLB at the table and this extraordinary creative team \u2014 isn\u2019t just a revival. It\u2019s a collision of American icons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSwindal is the granddaughter of legendary New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Nicknamed \u201cThe Boss,\u201d Steinbrenner was also a Broadway producer who invested in six productions, including the 1970 Tony Award-winner \u201cApplause\u201d and the 1974 musical \u201cSeesaw.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNoah Garden, MLB\u2019s deputy commissioner of business and media, added, \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to partner with the entire team on the return of \u2018Damn Yankees\u2019 to Broadway, led by such great talents in Neil, Julianne and Austin. It\u2019s incredibly important that our game continues to resonate outside the diamond and into different areas of culture. Baseball and Broadway fans both love high drama, high stakes and high hopes that they\u2019re about to watch something unforgettable happen. \u2018Damn Yankees\u2019 celebrates that shared spirit, and we\u2019re proud to help bring that energy to the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A revival of \u201cDamn Yankees,\u201d starring Neil Patrick Harris and Julianne Hough, will open next spring on Broadway.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[21540,236,364217,88,72549],"class_list":["post-863083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-broadway","tag-celebrities","tag-damn-yankees","tag-entertainment","tag-neil-patrick-harris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}