Performance Riverside celebrates the opening of its 2006-07 season with the classic baseball musical, Damn Yankees, at the Landis Performing Arts Center on September 15th.  Damn Yankees is directed by Greg Hinrichsen, director of Performing Arts at Citrus College in Glendora.   Working with director Hinrichsen are musical director, Scott T. Smith and Inland Theatre League Award-winning choreographer, John Vaughan.

With music by Richard Adler, lyrics by Jerry Ross, and book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, Damn Yankees is based on Wallop’s book The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant. Middle-aged baseball fanatic Joe Boyd trades his soul to the Devil (the charming but devious Mr. Applegate) for a chance to lead his favorite team to victory in the pennant race against the New York Yankees. As young baseball sensation Joe Hardy, he transforms the hapless Washington Senators into a winning team, only to realize the true worth of the life (and wife) he’s left behind. With the help of a handy escape clause and a guilt-ridden temptress named Lola, Joe outsmarts Applegate, returns to his former self and shepherds the Senators to the World Series. Musical numbers include “Heart,” “Whatever Lola Wants,” “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal M.O.” and “Two Lost Souls.”

“We know musical theatre entertains us; however the best shows also touch our lives,” says Performance Riverside’s new Producing Artistic Director Rey O’Day. “Damn Yankees is a story with important messages for today. Joe learns that family and quality of life are more important than being a celebrity baseball player. The team learns that while technical skills help, it also takes ‘Heart’ to win a season. This is an enormously entertaining show that celebrates everyday values.”

The original Broadway production of Damn Yankees, which won seven Tony Awards, ran for 1,019 performances after it opened at the 46th Street Theatre on May 5, 1955, bucking the trend that had plagued other baseball related shows.

Appearing as the fiery “Lola” is Actor’s Equity artist and former Rockette Juliet Fischer.  Jason Webb, “Che” in Performance Riverside’s production of Evita, plays “Joe Hardy,” and Gary Reinschmidt plays the mysterious “Mr. Applegate.”  Also featured are Claire Reinschmidt, John LaLonde, Beth Mendoza, Ayesha Ayeni,  Danny Blaylock, Ruben Bravo, Carlos Bonsal, Aaron Burr, Jeffrey Deards, Jr., Jeffrey Johns, Jordan Lamoureux, Allana Matheis, Jennifer Montoya, Sarah Moser, Antonio Ramirez, Chris Senesac, and Jamie Senesac.

The Landis Performing Arts Center is located on the Riverside City College campus at 4800 Magnolia Avenue. Performances for Damn Yankees are on September 15, 16, 22, and 23 at 8 pm, and September 16, 17, 23, and 24 at 2 pm. Tickets are $42, $36, $29, and $24.  A “Discovery Theatre” performance is also available for groups on September 21 at 10 am.  For more information, contact the Landis Box Office at 951-222-8100.