Starting Arts put on quite a show at Santa Clara High School over the weekend of July 8 – 10. Damn Yankees featured a cast of actors ranging from the third graders to high school seniors. As with other Starting Arts productions, don’t pre-judge the show on the age or the youthfulness of the actors.
The premise of Damn Yankees is the absolute love of baseball and the Washington Senators. Joe Boyd, performed by Adam Henriques, has one huge wish in his life – for the Senators to win the pennant race against the New York Yankees. But the Senators always seem to be one big hitter shy. When Boyd declares he’d be “willing to sell his soul” to help the Senators, Mr. Applegate, aka the Devil, played by Priyanka Bharghavan, appears and makes an offer that Boyd can’t resist. But part of the deal is that Boyd must leave everyone behind – including his loving wife, Meg, played by Kirsten Swidler. Boyd agrees and is instantly transformed into Joe Hardy, a baseball phenom, who gives the Senators what they’ve been missing – a powerful bat and gold-glove caliber fielding. As predicted, Boyd leads the Senators to the World Series, but along the way realizes the true cost of his wish. Frustrated that Hardy might slip out of the deal, Applegate transforms Hardy back into Boyd during a critical play in the World Series, only to have Boyd make a fantastic catch before he returns to his original life.
Starting Arts has several opportunities for students coming up over the summer including an Arts Escape Camp and a Sewing Camp (open to adults too) from July 18 – 22 and a Dance and a Music Intensive, both from July 25 – 29. Finally Dream Team and Dream Team II are holding auditions from August 6 – 7. For more information on Starting Arts, visit www.startingarts.com.