Meet the three lead performers starring in this Faustian sports classic
Damn Yankees premiered on Broadway over 70 years ago. It starred a young Gwen Verdon, a relatively unknown actress at the time, and was choreographed by none other than famed director and choreographer Bob Fosse.
The show won Best Musical that year and since then it is safe to say it’s been done over a thousand times all over the planet.
So what is it about this show that grabs the hearts of theaters, producers and patrons?
Maybe it’s the catchy tunes, or the fact that it’s about America’s favorite pastime (baseball) or maybe it’s because of the main character, Joe Boyd.
Boyd, an older man, wishes that his favorite baseball team had a “long ball hitter” so they could beat those damn Yankees. His wish comes true and he’s transformed into Joe Hardy, a young athletic slugger that finally gets his chance to do what he’s always wanted to do.
San Diego Musical Theatre (SDMT), best known for hits such As Ragtime, Dreamgirls, La Cage Aux Folles and White Christmas, to name a few, are presenting this timeless musical from June 2-June 18.
Playing the role of Joe Hardy is Chaz Feuerstine. San Diego audiences may remember Feuerstine from a handful of shows presented over the last few years here in San Diego (Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings, 9 to 5, Titanic). Feuerstine admits that even though he has never seen Damn Yankees it’s a show he’s very familiar with.
“I actually have never seen a professional production of Damn Yankees,” Feuerstine admitted. “I always new the music and loved the story. I have always wanted to be a part of this show and Joe Hardy has always been a dream role of mine. Baseball has always been a love of mine, and was the biggest part of my life for 15 years. The chance to combine my love for theater and baseball is a dream come true. I finally get to play ‘Pro Ball’”.
Being a dream role for the actor, his love for the role doesn’t just come from his songs or what he gets to do in the show. For Feuerstine it comes from a more personal place.
“Joe has been a dream role of mine,” Feuerstine said. “I love that my first go at it is with this incredible creative team and this ridiculous cast! I get to work with so many incredible actors. I find so much of myself in Joe Hardy that it is such an incredible feeling to be able to lose myself in him. He loves the game of baseball so much but he never loses sight to what’s most important to him. He may have made a deal with a devil, but he does it with the intentions of never hurting anyone. I love finding the joy and honesty through every scene and every beautiful song.”
As Feuerstine mentions his character makes a deal-with-the-devil to become the young Joe Hardy and to play baseball with his favorite team. The devil in Damn Yankees, played by Liverpool native Neil Dale, isn’t the devil most of us may think of. While he may be a cunning, manipulative character, he’s also dressed quite well and to most wouldn’t be recognized as the demon he truly is.
Dale moved to the states in 2007 after performing for many years in the U.K., which gave him the opportunity to work in some of the U.K.’s most notable theaters.
“Theater live in the U.K. was fun,” Dale said. “I was blessed to perform in some of the biggest shows in the world and at some of the best theaters in the West End. One of my favorite moments in London was performing for Her Majesty the Queen of England at Windsor Castle. We performed a concert version of Les Miserables for Her Majesty and the President of France, Jacques René Chirac. There were over 250 presidential guests and afterwards we got to meet the Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.”
Since his move to San Diego Dale has done quite a bit of performing and directing around town and surrounding areas. In fact after he’s finished playing Applegate for SDMT he’ll be returning as director for their upcoming fall show Billy Elliott.
“I came to America because my wife is a local San Diego girl,” Dale revealed. “I met her whilst touring the U.K. with Miss Saigon. We fell in love and the rest is history as they say. I’ve been very lucky to be embraced by the theater community not only in L.A. but thankfully in San Diego too. The thing I love the most about California theater is how hard the producers and actors work to keep theater alive on the West Coast. Towards the end of last year Jill Townsend [SDMT artistic director] called me and asked if I would be interested in directing Billy Elliott. I jumped at the chance because this is a show that is very near and dear to my heart. Being from the U.K. and of a mature age I lived through the miners’ strike and have always loved the show.”
Dale keeps busy in and around San Diego. After his stint here in San Diego with Damn Yankees, he will head back up to the Los Angeles area to the Hyperion Theatre to perform in the world premiere of Frozen playing the Duke of Weselton. After that he’ll be back down here to cast Billy Elliott which starts rehearsals in August.
It is clear however that Dale is quite smitten and dedicated to the arts right here in San Diego.
“I have worked with some of the best actors I’ve ever worked with in this town,” Dale confessed. “It would be such a shame for theater to die out here.”
Rounding out the cast playing the role of seductress Lola, Applegate’s assistant in getting Joe to lose his bet with him, is Broadway veteran Leslie Stevens. Oddly enough theater was not a big part of her life as a child.
“I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” Stevens said. “Theater was not part of my childhood. I was a competitive gymnast from age 7 – 11. My family moved to St. Louis when I was 11. I didn’t find a gymnastics program to join. The only other thing I really liked were the Saturday Movies 1, 2 and 3 – mostly all musicals. I discovered I could learn the dance steps and I started imagining I could do that professionally.”
Stevens has been lucky enough to meet and work with the original Lola, Gwen Verdon and she also originated the role of Anne in La Cage Aux Folles.
“My on-stage idol was always Gwen Verdon,” Stevens admitted. “I had the great thrill to meet her and get to know her a bit. We hit it off. She liked my dancing. She was in the process of pre-production discussions about the show, Fosse. She invited me to have lunch with her in New York City – which we did. It is a treasured memory. [La Cage] was like I stepped through the looking-glass. The year before I had been in high school watching George Hearn on the Tony’s. The next spring, I was in a rehearsal room with him and Arthur Laurents, Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein.”
It appears Stevens may not only have the key to her own success but she lives by a mantra that may serve others just as well.
“There is no recipe or guarantee for success but I believe in a few things,” Stevens confessed. “Do your work. Imagine with passion and back it up with practice on the skills. Then show up. Possibility happens when you show up.”
Damn Yankees opens at The Spreckels Theatre, 121 Broadway in San Diego June 2. For tickets visit sdmt.org or call the box office at 858-560-5740.
