'Damn Yankees' Revisal Resets to 2000 Orioles, Adds Negro Leagues Story

Sergio Trujillo says his 'Damn Yankees' revival will move the story to 2000, switch the team to Baltimore, and add a Negro Leagues family backstory.

New York Theatre Guide reports Trujillo calls the production a "revisal," setting the action in 2000, the year the Yankees won their third straight World Series, and switching Joe Boyd's team from the defunct Washington Senators to the Baltimore Orioles so the musical reads as a David-and-Goliath story against New York. The show plays the Marquis Theatre, with its first preview on March 24, 2027 and official opening April 20, dates corroborated by The Hollywood Reporter.

The most substantive change, according to New York Theatre Guide, is that Joe Boyd and Joe Hardy are Black men in this revival, and the story now acknowledges it explicitly. Trujillo told the outlet the team "added a very small, but very significant, story" in which Joe's father played in the legendary Negro Leagues but was denied the chance because of 1950s prejudices, which heightens the stakes for Joe's bargain with the devil. Austin Scott, who plays Joe Hardy, told the outlet his character carries three dreams: his own as a baseball star, his father's from the Negro Leagues, and Baltimore's dream of winning the pennant.

Fans of the score can relax: New York Theatre Guide reports the classic Richard Adler and Jerry Ross songs remain intact, including "Whatever Lola Wants," "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo.," "A Little Brains, a Little Talent" and "Who's Got the Pain?", with Lynn Ahrens providing additional lyrics. Trujillo, who danced "Shoeless Joe" in the 1999 Fosse revue, told the outlet he will hide a few Fosse nods for sharp-eyed fans while putting his own choreographic stamp on the show. He also told the outlet he wants the revisal to have its own identity rather than replicate Bob Fosse's original choreography.

New York Theatre Guide also flagged the production's unusual baseball DNA: Major League Baseball is a producing partner, lead producer Haley Swindal is George Steinbrenner's granddaughter, and an official baseball consultant will help the cast play athletes authentically. Scott told the outlet he is studying Yankees star Aaron Judge's stillness at the plate as a model for Joe, and Harris described his Applegate as less "used-car salesman" and more "alluring and puppet master-y."

Further casting has not been announced; The Hollywood Reporter reports additional names will be revealed at a later date. The calendar is deliberately baseball-aligned: New York Theatre Guide notes the first preview on March 24, 2027 lands on MLB opening day, while opening night on April 20 coincides with a scheduled Yankees home game against Milwaukee. Hough, making her Broadway musical debut after 'POTUS,' told the outlet she hopes to draw her 'Dancing With the Stars' audience into theaters, and Harris said the big-ensemble musical has long been a bucket-list item after bespoke shows like 'Hedwig' and 'Assassins.'