Announced today at the Yankees game, the seven-time Tony and Emmy Award-winning musical classic Damn Yankees, based on the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant by Douglass Wallopp, will make its triumphant return to Broadway next spring, directed by Sergio Trujillo. The musical will star Tony Award and five-time Emmy Award winner Neil Patrick Harris as Applegate, with Emmy Award winner Julianne Hough in her Broadway musical debut as Lola, and Austin Scott (Hamilton) as Young Joe.
Damn Yankees will play the Marquis Theatre with its first preview on Wednesday, March 24, 2027 and an official opening on Tuesday, April 20, 2027.
Tickets are now on sale on Broadway Direct, the official ticket seller for Damn Yankees on Broadway.
This newly adapted production will mark the first Broadway revival of Damn Yankees in more than 30 years. And in a first for a Broadway musical, Major League Baseball (MLB) and its Emmy Award-winning production label MLB Studios, will serve as a partner on the production.
Lia Vollack (MJ, Eurovision the Musical), who joins the production as a lead producer, said, “What could be more exciting than bringing Neil Patrick Harris, Julianne Hough and Austin Scott together in a musical as irresistible as Damn Yankees? I am thrilled to be joining Sergio, this extraordinary creative team and my producing partners on this big, joyful, high-octane Broadway musical and I can’t wait for audiences to experience it!”
Lead producer Haley Swindal said, “Baseball is mythology. Broadway is mythology. They both deliver thrilling, unrepeatable live entertainment to millions of fans each year. Bringing them together — with MLB at the table and this extraordinary creative team — isn’t just a revival. It’s a collision of American icons.”
Swindal is not the first in her family to bridge the gap of America’s pastime and the American musical. As the eldest granddaughter of legendary New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, she carries forward a family tradition that spans both baseball and Broadway. While Steinbrenner is best remembered as “The Boss” who transformed the Yankees into the most iconic franchise in the world, he was also a Broadway producer, investing in six productions, including the 1970 Tony Award-winning musical Applause and the 1974 Tony Award Best Musical nominee Seesaw.
Noah Garden, Deputy Commissioner of Business and Media at MLB, added, “We’re thrilled to partner with the entire team on the return of Damn Yankees to Broadway, led by such great talents in Neil, Julianne and Austin. It’s incredibly important that our game continues to resonate outside the diamond and into different areas of culture. Baseball and Broadway fans both love high drama, high stakes and high hopes that they’re about to watch something unforgettable happen. Damn Yankees celebrates that shared spirit, and we’re proud to help bring that energy to the stage.”
Following a sensation causing, sold-out engagement at Arena Stage last fall, this newly reimagined adaptation features a book 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.
Director and choreographer Sergio Trujillo said, “Damn Yankees has always been one of our great American musicals, but I wasn’t interested in simply reviving it. This “revisal” preserves the heart, wit and soaring score that audiences love and is a real opportunity to bring joy back into the theater. Damn Yankees is a celebration of America, and I hope audiences see themselves in it and remind them of the magic that only a great American musical can deliver. Let’s play ball!”
It’s the early 2000s, and diehard baseball fan Joe Boyd dreams of seeing his beloved Baltimore Orioles return to glory. So when a charming stranger and his captivating accomplice arrive with an offer too good to refuse, Joe makes a deal that could give both him and his team a second chance. There’s just one catch…
Alongside Sergio Trujillo as director and choreographer, Damn Yankees’ creative team includes Greg Anthony Rassen (music supervisor and arranger), Doug Besterman (orchestrations), Robert Brill (scenic design), Linda Cho (costume design), Philip S. Rosenberg (lighting design), Walter Trarbach (sound design), Peter Nigrini (projection design), Charles G. LaPointe (wig and hair design), Paul Kieve (illusion design), and David Chase (score supervisor). Casting is by The TRC Company. General Management is by Foresight Theatrical. Mark Shacket of Foresight Theatrical serves as Executive Producer.
Following its sold-out engagement at Arena Stage, garnering 13 Helen Hayes Award nominations (the most of any musical this season), winning 8 Awards including Best Musical, Damn Yankees drew raves from critics, with The Washington Post declaring, “Damn Yankees knocks it out of the park,” and calling the production “a winning reinvention of a classic” and “damn-near-perfect.” Damn Yankees debuted on Broadway in 1955, winning seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It features 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.
