New DAMN YANKEES Eyes 2026 Broadway Bow; Why It's Less 'Revival' & More 'Revisal'

As the new Broadway-aimed revival of Damn Yankees begins performances at Arena Stage, director-choreographer Sergio Trujillo, star Jordan Donica, and book writers Doug Wright and Will Powers are explaining why the production is less of a revival, and more of "revisal."

“It was never my goal to throw it upside down and change it,” Trujillo shared with the Washington Post. “It feels like ‘Damn Yankees.’ It looks like ‘Damn Yankees.’ The spirit of it is there.”

The new production "updates the tale by swapping the 1950s (and their postwar buoyancy) for 2000 (and its pre-9/11 optimism). Our hero’s team has changed, too, with the Baltimore Orioles pinch-hitting for the Washington Senators. And Donica’s Joe Hardy has been reimagined as a Black character driven to live out the big league dream his father, a Negro Leagues standout, never could."

“[The new version] didn’t always work,” Donica, who plays Joe Hardy, shares. “It was fun to be in the reading in May and feel it finally click, after all of these years of working on it — because it didn’t, it didn’t, it didn’t, and then all of a sudden it did.”

Set against the backdrop of the early 2000s Yankees dynasty—when the Bronx was home to a seemingly unbeatable lineup of MLB superstars—a die-hard baseball fan makes a deal with the devil to help his rival team clinch the pennant, only to find himself torn between fame, temptation, and the life he left behind.

Featuring iconic numbers like “Whatever Lola Wants” and “Who’s Got the Pain?,” this irresistible musical comedy blends high-stakes romance with a devilish dose of mischief. Packed with all the charm that made it a classic, this reimagining immerses audiences in a whirlwind of love, laughter, ego, and sacrifice.

“To pretend that his experience would be the same as the White Joe in the original text would be disingenuous,” Wright explains. “So I think it was an effort to substantiate the character as a Black American, and not just do a bit of creative casting.”

"This idea particularly of the African American athlete within sports exploitation, being in the spotlight and public sphere, that was really interesting to me," Powers says.

The new version will see Joe’s father as a baseball pro in the Negro Leagues and the minors in the 1950s, when only the best of the best Black players got a shot at the majors. After he strikes a bargain with Applegate, played here by Rob McClure, Joe doesn't set out to just lift up his favorite team — he’s rectifying an injustice that’s loomed over his family.

“It inherently changes the piece, Joe being Black,” Donica continues. “Joe being connected to his father is part of the reason why he makes this decision for himself. It’s not just because, ‘Oh, man, I really want a shot at playing in the big leagues.’ It’s a deeper connection.”

After it concludes its run on November 9, Damn Yankees eyeing a tentative bow on Broadway next fall. The reason of the wait until 2026 would be Donica's new position as a series regular on The Gilded Age. The fourth season of the hit HBO show will begin shooting in February 2026.