Jerry Lewis Takes Time off From UK Yankees for Telethon | Playbill

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News Jerry Lewis Takes Time off From UK Yankees for Telethon Londoners had until Aug. 24, to catch Jerry Lewis and the current cast of the Damn Yankees at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End.

Londoners had until Aug. 24, to catch Jerry Lewis and the current cast of the Damn Yankees at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End.

For Jerry Lewis, the late summer U.S. holiday of Labor Day traditionally coincides with his annual Muscular Dystrophy Telethon -- which means he needs to take a break from playing Applegate in the Lond production. According to one of the show's producers, the show will return in late September with Lewis and an all-British cast.

This is the same revised version of the 1955 Richard Adler/Jerry Ross musical that played on Broadway 1994-95 and toured the U.S. through spring 1997. Lewis' American co-stars are April Nixon (Lola) and John Michael Flate (Joe).

Lewis reportedly signed for a year in the show, with a break for the telethon. He opened in Damn Yankees June 4.

The George Abbott/Douglas Wallop book transposes the Faust to the world of American baseball in the mid 1950s. A rabid fan of the sad-sack Washington Senators unthinkingly offers to sell his soul to see his team beat the seemingly invincible Yankees. Jerry Lewis plays Satan, here known by the benevolent moniker Mr. Applegate, who takes Joe up on his offer and transforms him personally into the greatest ballplayer in history, Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO. But when Joe realizes that he'll have to leave his beloved wife at the end of the season, he begins looking for an escape clause. Damn Yankees plays in the theatre recently vacated by Sunset Boulevard. For information call 0171.344.0055.

-- By Robert Viagas and David Lefkowitz

 
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