Review Roundup: DAMN YANKEES Opens at Arena Stage

Arena Stage is presenting Damn Yankees through November 9, 2025 in the Fichandler Theater. This newly-imagined take on the beloved classic includes a new adaptation by Lucille Lortel Award winner Will Power and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright, with additional lyrics by Tony Award winner Lynn Ahrens, and direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo. Damn Yankees includes music and lyrics by two-time Tony Award winners Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, and book by seven-time Tony Award winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient George Abbott and Tony Award winner Douglass Wallop. Damn Yankees is based on the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant by Douglass Wallopp.
 
The production is led by two-time Tony Award nominee Rob McClure, Ana Villafañe, Tony Award nominee Jordan Donica, Grammy Award nominee Quentin Earl Darrington, Bryonha Marie, Alysha Umphress, Nehal Joshi, Keenan McCarter, Rayanne Gonzales, and Sarah Anne Sillers. The cast of Damn Yankees also features Giuseppe Bausilio, Raúl Contreras, Deanna Cudjoe, John Michael Fiumara, Danielle Marie Gonzalez, Michael Harmon, Ryo Kamibayashi, Georgia Monroe, J Savage, Justin Showell, Kevin Munhall, Jordyn Taylor, Drake Leach, and Dani Spieler.
 
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.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Damn Yankees eyeing a tentative bow on Broadway next fall after it concludes its run at Arena Staage. 

See what the critics are saying...

Mary Lincer, BroadwayWorld:  A stupendous cast of gamers, Sergio Trujillo's choreography which bats a thousand, and Adler and Ross' Tony-winning score field the first inning of Arena Stage's 75th season with a number of entertaining homers. The winning streak that the New York Yankees enjoyed in the 1950s made more than one ball fan curse them. Joe, the hero of Damn Yankees, wants to defeat them so badly that he attracts the devilish Applegate (Rob McClure) who makes him an offer he can't refuse, even though it means he has to leave his beloved wife, Meg, (Bryonha Marie). Marie, lyrically sings beautiful duets straight down the middle with both her Joes, Quentin Earl Darrington as the ball fan of a certain age and Jordan Donica as the 5-tool ballplayer he becomes after his Faustian bargain. But Donica easily switch hits musical styles from ballads to whatever Lola wants.

Lucille Rieke, DC Theater Arts: Directed and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo (of Broadway’s Real Women Have Curves), the musical races at game speed as scenes, sets, and characters fly in and out of Arena’s in-the-round stage. Trujillo allows the script and score to walk the line between realism and fantasy, landing in a grounded, passionate, and joyous camp style without ever tipping into triviality.

Naveen Kumar, Washinton Post: We’re not living in subtle times, which makes the production’s understated message of progressive patriotism that much more powerful and impressively told. The multiplicity reflected onstage isn’t a diversity, equity and inclusion distortion, but a more accurate reflection of cities like Washington and Baltimore. The revision includes a few glancing winks at the present, but the most resonant line comes from the original. Gloria the sports reporter (Alysha Umphress) defends her motivations for investigating Joe, despite helping to make him a hero. “Maybe I value the good game of baseball more than I do a victory for my own team.” She could be talking about something more dear to America than a ballgame.