Jackson, Gasteyer and Graff Join Cast of Encores! Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees has a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and is based on Wallop's novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant. It is the story of Joe Boyd, the ultimate baseball fan, who sells his soul to the Devil Hayes for the chance to help his team, the Washington Senators, win the pennant race against the Yankees. The Devil is aided by the sexy Lola Krakowski, who seduces a now younger, physically transformed Joe Jackson, but ultimately helps him outsmart the Devil and return to his beloved wife Graff. Songs include "Heart" and "Whatever Lola Wants."
Jackson, who will play the role of Joe Hardy, currently stars as Sonny in Broadway's Xanadu, and he will return to that show following the run of Damn Yankees. His other Broadway credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie, Aida and All Shook Up. Jackson also originated the role of Matthew in the off-Broadway production of Altar Boyz.
Gasteyer, who will appear as Gloria, is best known for her work on Saturday Night Live. Her Broadway credits include Elphaba in Wicked, Mrs. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera and Columbia in The Rocky Horror Show. Off-Broadway, she has appeared in Kimberly Akimbo at Manhattan Theatre Club and the 2004 special benefit of Hair at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Gasteyer has been seen on the big screen in Mean Girls and What Women Want.
Graff, who joins Damn Yankees as Meg Hardy, has a long list of Broadway credits, including Les Miserables, Moon Over Buffalo, High Society, A Class Act, the 2004 revival of Fiddler on the Roof and City of Angels, for which she won a Best Featured Actress Tony Award in 1990.