Damn Yankees Final Show

[maliatkb8]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 9:02am

Did anyone go to the final performance of "Damn Yankees" last night? What's the buzz? I'm curious to know how it went...

[dshnookie]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 9:48am

Saw the show for the first time at this closing performance. Huge applauses for Sean, Jane and Cheyenne - especially for Cheyenne at curtain call. It was a great show, but a large portion of the side mid and rear mezz were empty. Right before curtain, there was this mad dash of everyone in the rear mezz to the empty mid mezz and grand tier seats - it was a little scary with people jumping over rows and seats - scary and unnecessary.

I sat in Row A mid mezz and the leg room was great :) As I left, the second floor "lobby" area was blocked off and we had to leave through side exits, from what I saw there was a catered meal in the center - perhaps a small cast party was being held there after the show?

Did anyone spot any Broadway stars? I stood right behind Tyler Maynard, Derrick Baskin and Sean Palmer of The Little Mermaid at the pick up line [who were all sitting in the mezz right along with me] and behind Tony Roberts at the door right as they scan your ticket - didnt speak to them though.

And I must say, the gays were out in full force at Damn Yankees, including myself. Just an observation :)

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 9:55am

I was there last night and there really wasn't anything special that happened for the closing. I will say that after seeing the show a week or so ago it had gotten much better.

My tickets for me a friend were in the rear mezz. The entire mezzanine was maybe half full, and once the no cell phones announcement came on there was a mass stampede of people moving down and filling in seats.

The best parts of production for me were still the two duets between Cheyenne Jackson and Randy Graff. In fact, "A Man Doesn't Know" gave me goosebumps last night.

I liked Jane's performance even more this time. Her dancing was sharper, and she had some nice moments with Cheyenne in the book scene before "Two Lost Souls."

I wasn't crazy about Sean Hayes, but I was in the overwhelming minority as the audience went CRAZY for every little bit he did.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 10:43am

I was there too. I had a great time, and was sad to see the show go. Jane's dancing improved tenfold from the first time I saw it, and I didn't have a problem with it then, but she was just wonderful last night. She even added a few little riffs to "A Little Brains, A Little Talent", it was great. Sean Hayes...well, you love him or you hate him. Either way, he was on his game last night, and I found him to be very funny. Cheyenne Jackson has never been in better voice. Randy Graff is still the most underrated star of this production, and Veanne Cox and Kathy Fitzgerald are as funny and wonderful as they were when the show began. All in all, i'm very sad to see it go, and a bit disappointed that other people didn't enjoy it as much as I did.

As far as "theatre celebrities" in attendance, I saw Tony Roberts, Marty Thomas, Andre Ward, Tyler Maynard, Derrick Baskin, Sean Palmer, Norm Lewis, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Whew.

Stuck around at "stage door" for a little while, but left quickly, I was so tired, but a friend of mine told me people waited out there until 11PM (for Jane Krakowski, who never ended up coming out, apparently). Wow.

[maliatkb8]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 11:13am

Sounds like a pretty successful closing. Thanks for the reviews!

[Kelly2]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 11:27am

Though I must say, the highlight of Sean Hayes performance was watching him dancing "Who's Got the Pain?" in the wings. Was able to see him from my seat on the side of the orchestra, and completely lost it laughing.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 2:37pm

I liked the part where Sean Hayes improvised right after WHATEVER LOLA WANTS and Jane Krakowski started cracking up so much so that Hayes turned his back to the audience so he wouldn't lose it.

I also liked Hayes's "I'm really playing [the piano]!" bit. Guess you can count me among those who loved his Applegate.

The orchestra wasn't filled either. I thought it would have sold out.

Cheyenne Jackson was amazing, as always.

And yes, the gays indeed were out in full force last night at City Center...

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 3:45pm

It seems that gays are ALWAYS out in full force at City Center productions.

Something should be done about it.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 3:55pm

As long as the fire sprinklers are operational, it's all good.

[sally1112]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 4:06pm

Glad to hear some positive responses to this show (even if it is at the end of its run). It looked like so much fun.

[LindaTNo1]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 1:19pm

Bravo! Bravo! Encore, encore and congratulations to the cast and crew for a fine Summer Series at the City Center. For the most part there have been good and positive reviews from the media critics, a few here and there not so good, but overall very good. So glad that there were plenty of HUGE applauses given to the leads and to the rest of the cast too at Bows and Curtain Call. For the very short time to put Damn Yankees together, things were pretty well performed. Thanks to all for your recap of the final performance. I only wish that I were able to have attended a performance and to purchase some of the merchandise at the gift shop. I want a t-shirt and a playbill with a cap too. X-Large t-shirt. Will there be a site (Amazon or Ebay) where I can still purchase some of the merchandise from this production? Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks again for this thread.