Why ‘Damn Yankees’ Is Partnering With Major League Baseball

On Sunday, Neil Patrick Harris, Julianne Hough, and the cast and creative team behind “Damn Yankees” sat in the press room of Yankee Stadium answering questions from a group of theater journalists who looked as natural in the setting as Ethel Merman and Patti LuPone would in the dugout during the playoffs. “It’s a little surreal for all of us to be here,” Rick Miramontez, the publicity wizard behind the event, confessed shortly before the press conference kicked off.

An intense rainstorm spoiled some of the fanfare around the announcement of a revival (one of the stars, Austin Scott, was supposed to throw out the first pitch), but the day’s larger point was clear. It’s never been harder to launch a Broadway musical, and the Great White Way could use all the help it can get. Enter the Bronx Bombers and Major League Baseball, which, in a first, will partner on the show along with its Emmy Award-winning production label MLB Studios.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to get asses in seats,” Harris said. “It’s really the opportunity to give people who don’t normally go see theater a reason to go. If this will allow arenas full of people…to know that seeing Broadway is something that is accessible to them and ideally awesome, then that would be a great thing.”

For the past year and change, a lot has been written about the challenges facing musicals. Such shows typically carry production budgets of $15 million to $20 million, which means that in order to recoup their investments, they have to play to full houses. Harris and Hough are stars who bring passionate fan bases from their stints on “How I Met Your Mother” and “Dancing With the Stars,” but the economics are daunting.

Acclaimed revivals like “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” wrapped up their runs early after ticket sales began to soften, while new musicals like “The Queen of Versailles” and “Beaches” bombed. More recently, “Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York” announced it would close shop in November despite rave reviews. Yes, some of the biggest hits on Broadway remain long-running musicals like “Hamilton” and “The Lion King,” but no new juggernauts have emerged to challenge them since COVID upended the business.

Partnering on a musical may be new for baseball, but the business has integrated its talent with promising results. “Buena Vista Social Club” recently sold out shows after tapping former New York Mets player José “Candelita” Iglesias to appear as the narrator for a limited run, and the production will enlist former Yankee Bernie Williams and his guitar to join the show’s band next month.

MLB’s involvement in “Damn Yankees” wasn’t immediately clear, but baseball will help promote the show to its fans. As for the musical, it’s getting a facelift. The setting will move from the 1950s to 2000, as the Orioles try to take on the Yankees, who were enjoying a period of dominance that saw them win four straight World Series. The creative team behind “Damn Yankees” made it clear that they were committed to being true to the sport. Miramontez said that a technical adviser had been hired, and Scott said he’s been studying game footage as he prepares to play Joe Boyd, a thwarted fan who sells his soul to carry the “Birds” to glory.

“I am kind of coming into this world, learning the baseball world, the culture, and the language of the sport,” Scott said, adding, “I’ve already been watching a lot of highlight reels and a lot of footage, especially of Aaron Judge.”

On Sunday, Harris, Hough, and Scott met Judge and the rest of the team in person after braving the downpour to shoot promotional images on the field. Harris explained why they had made the trek to the Bronx by recounting the entire plot of “Damn Yankees” to members of the clubhouse.

“I just didn’t know if they knew the context of meeting us, like why we were here,” a sheepish Harris admitted.