B'way Update: Damn Yankees

Austin Scott, Julianne Hough and
Neil Patrick Harris will headline a 
new production of Damn Yankees.
Credit: Emilio Madrid

The new revival of Damn Yankees announced its lead cast, theater and dates at a press conference at Yankees Stadium. Major League Baseball and its production label MLB Studio will serve as co-producers of the baseball-themed 1955 musical. Tony and Emmy winner Neil Patrick Harris will star as Applegate, the incarnation of the devil who tempts a middle-aged baseball fan into becomes a youthful hitter in return for his soul. Julianne Hough of Dancing with the Stars plays Lola, his seductive accomplice and Austin Scott (Hamilton) will play Young Joe, Applegate's target. Previews begin March 24, 2027 at the Marquis Theater prior to an April 20 opening.

Tony winner Sergio Trujillo (Ain't Too Proud) directs and choreographs. The setting will be updated to the early 2000s with an adapted book by Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife) and Will Power. Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime) writes additional lyrics. The original 1955 production was directed by George Abbott with choreography by Bob Fosse. Abbott co-wrote the book with Douglass Wallop based on the latter's novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant. Richard Adler and Jerry Ross wrote the score. A 1995 revival with Victor Garber and Bebe Neuwirth also featured book revisions and played the Marquis.

This revised edition previously appeared at Washington DC's Arena Stage.

B'way Update: Cat and Yankees, etc.

Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor in
Cat of a Hot Tin Roof.

A new production of Tennessee Williams' Cat of a Hot Tin Roof is headed for Broadway, scheduled to open sometime in the spring of 2027. Tony winner Sam Gold (Fun Home, A Doll's House, Part 2) will direct and Seaview will produce. Cat first opened on Broadway in 1955, winning the Pulitzer Prize. Barbara Bel Geddes, Ben Gazzara and Burl Ives starred as Maggie the Cat, her closeted husband Brick and Big Daddy. Ives repeated his performance in the 1958 movie version with Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. Subsequent Broadway productions have starred Elizabeth Ashley and Keir Dullea (1974), Kathleen Turner and Daniel Hugh Kelly (1990), Ashley Judd and Jason Patric (2003), Anika Noni Rose and Terrence Howard (2008), and Scarlett Johanssen and Benjamin Walker (2013). TV versions have been headlined by Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner, and Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones. I saw Sandy Dennis and David Selby play the leads in summer stock. Cast and creative staff will be announced at a later date.

"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the pinnacle of what the theatre can do," says Gold in a statement. "Two of the greatest roles for actors in the cannon, delivered to us by the world’s most original playwright, at the very height of his poetic powers, exploring themes that feel as shockingly honest and blood boiling today as they did 70 years ago. I couldn't be more excited to bring this masterpiece back to New York next season."

"It's been such a gift to be making work with Sam Gold over the last four years,” adds Seaview co-founder and CEO Greg Nobile. "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will mark our fifth production together, and I am certain Sam's vision to bring Tennessee's extraordinary and timeless characters to life next season will once again thrill and delight audiences."