This classic Broadway musical will highlight the Oregon Straw Hat Players’ 2026 season as our Summer Show.

Damn Yankees follows disgruntled, middle-aged baseball fan Joe Boyd, desperate for his hapless Washington Senators to finally beat the hated New York Yankees. When the devil appears as a slick-talking salesman and offers him a deal, Joe agrees to sell his soul for the opportunity to become Joe Hardy, a young phenom who joins the Senators and rallies them to the final game of the season – with the pennant and his soul on the line.

Damn Yankees is a treat for baseball fans, but also a battle between good and evil, fidelity and temptation, and honesty and deception. It is a quintessential 1950s musical, with memorable characters, big dance numbers, earnest heroes, a sexy seductress, and classic songs like “(You Gotta Have) Heart” and “Whatever Lola Wants.” Damn Yankees won seven Tony awards in 1955, including Best Musical.

The OSHP production will be directed by highly-regarded Madison-area performer and director Mickey Reynolds. There will be Six performances at the Oregon High School Performing Arts Center.

See our Calendar for Auditions, and Tech Days leading up to the performances. There are many ways to get involved in this wonderful classic musical.