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Jackson, Gasteyer and Graff Will Join Krakowski and Hayes in Encores! Damn Yankees
By Andrew Gans
02 May 2008
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Cheyenne Jackson
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Cheyenne Jackson, who is currently co-starring in the new musical Xanadu at the Helen Hayes Theatre, will play the strapping Joe Hardy in the upcoming Encores! Summer Stars production of Damn Yankees.
Newcomers to the cast also include Ana Gasteyer (Wicked, "Saturday Night Live") as Gloria and Tony Award winner Randy Graff (City of Angels, A Class Act) as Meg Boyd.
The threesome join the previously announced Jane Krakowski as Lola and Sean Hayes as Mr. Applegate.
Damn Yankees, which will play City Center July 5-27, will be directed by John Rando with musical direction by Rob Berman. Mary MacLeod will re-create the original Bob Fosse choreography. Opening night is scheduled for July 10.
Damn Yankees has a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and is based on Wallop's novel "The Year The Yankees Lost the Pennant."
The musical, according to press notes, is described as such: "It is the story of Joe Boyd, the ultimate baseball fan, who sells his soul to the Devil (Sean Hayes) for the chance to help his team, the Washington Senators, win the pennant race against the Yankees. The Devil is aided by the sexy Lola (Jane Krakowski), who seduces Joe (Cheyenne Jackson), but ultimately helps him outsmart the Devil and return to his beloved wife (Randy Graff)."
The original Broadway production of Damn Yankees opened at the 46th Street Theatre May 5, 1955, playing 1,019 performances before closing at the Adelphi Theatre, where it later transferred, on Oct. 12, 1957. Directed by George Abbott with musical numbers staged by Bob Fosse, the original cast included Gwen Verdon, Stephen Douglass and Ray Walston. The production won 1956 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Walston), Best Actress in a Musical (Verdon), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Russ Brown), Best Choreography (Fosse), Conductor and Musical Director (Hal Hastings) and Stage Technician (Harry Green).
The most recent Broadway revival, which opened in March 1994 at the Marquis Theatre, co-starred Bebe Neuwirth, Victor Garber and Jarrod Emick.
Cheyenne Jackson, who was seen in the film "United 93," has appeared on Broadway in Xanadu, All Shook Up, Aida and Thoroughly Modern Millie. He starred in the premiere cast of Altar Boyz, and his regional credits include West Side Story, The Most Happy Fella, Children of Eden, Hair, Carousel, Damn Yankees and Kismet. Jackson is a member of the Broadway Inspirational Voices and was recently seen Off-Broadway in The Agony and the Agony. (Jackson will be taking a leave of absence from Xanadu to perform in Damn Yankees but will return to the world of Xanadu following the Encores! production.)
Randy Graff received a Tony Award for her performance in Cy Coleman's City of Angels, and her other Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof, A Class Act, High Society, Moon Over Buffalo, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Falsettos and Les Misérables as well as the City Center Encores! production of Do Re Mi. Off-Broadway she was seen in The Long Christmas Ride Home, Hotel Suite, A...My Name Is Alice, Coming Attractions and Pins and Needles as well as in the Williamstown Theatre Festival's mounting of The Threepenny Opera. Graff's screen credits include "Notes from the Underbelly," "Keys to Tulsa," "Moon Over Broadway," "Mad About You" and "Law & Order."
Best known for her work on "Saturday Night Live," Ana Gasteyer has appeared on Broadway in Wicked, The Threepenny Opera and The Rocky Horror Show and Off-Broadway in The Vagina Monologues and Kimberly Akimbo. She also played Fanny Brice in the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera's production of Funny Girl and was seen in the New York City Opera mounting of Cinderella. Her screen credits include "Reefer Madness," "Mean Girls," "What Women Want," "Woman on Top," "Dick" and "What's the Worst That Could Happen?"
City Center is located in Manhattan at West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. For tickets, priced $25-$110, call (212) 581-1212 or visit www.nycitycenter.org.
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