FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Sue Matulionis – 708-447-7984

The North Riverside Recreation Community Theater

Presents    

 Damn Yankees
 Directed by Synoma Hays
Limited Engagement Opens April 29, 2005 

… North Riverside Recreation Community Theater Hits a Homerun …

North Riverside, IL (February 2005) – Anniversary’s abound in North Riverside Recreation Community Theater’s production of Damn Yankees. Not only is this the 50^th anniversary of Damn Yankee’s Broadway debut, but it is also North Riverside Recreation Community Theater’s 15^th anniversary. What better way to celebrate than to revive the first musical NRRCT ever produced!?

With songs such as “You’ve Gotta Have Heart,” “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO,” and “Whatever Lola Wants…,” Damn Yankees is sure to score big with audiences. Opening on Broadway on May 5, 1955, Damn Yankees went on to run for 1019 performances and win seven Tony Awards, including Leading Actor, Leading Actress, Featured Actor, Producer and Choreographer. The musical, a devilishly entertaining version of Douglass Wallop’s novel, The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, features a middle-aged man’s deal to sell his soul in exchange for a pennant win for the Washington Senators. The devil, Mr. Applegate, transforms the man into a fabulous young ballplayer, Joe Hardy. While Hardy’s body lives for baseball, his mind belongs back at home with his wife, Meg. Applegate sends his best temptress, Lola, to help him forget about his homesickness. And that’s just the first few scenes…

“The show is fun and we have lots of laughs in rehearsals,” said director Synoma Hays. The cast features some NRRCT veterans, such as Tony Patryn as Applegate, Eric Whealdon as VanBuren and Brian Carmack as Joe Hardy. New faces like Jill Thiel as Lola and Bruce Moore as Joe Boyd also grace the stage. “The cast is so amazing,” said Hays. “They make my job as a director easy.” And Damn Yankees has widespread appeal. “The show is just about fun – playing baseball and the love of the game.”

Damn Yankees opens on Friday, April 29^th and continues through Saturday, May 7^th at the North Riverside Village Commons located at 2401 S. Des Plaines Avenue, North Riverside, Illinois. Evening performances will be Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, Thursday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:00pm. Ticket prices are $14 for adults, $10 for seniors and students with ID, and $6 for children under 12. Group discounts are available. For tickets, call Terri at 708-447-1297.

The North Riverside Recreation Community Theater (www.nrrct.com) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1989 with the goal of expanding appreciation of the arts by presenting quality theater at affordable prices.  Since its inception, the group has produced 23 shows, ranging from time-honored classics such as Hello, Dolly! and The Music Man, to modern shows such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Little Shop of Horrors, to six original scripts written by NRRCT members.