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 "It
was the best turn out we've ever had at a Mount Michael play,"
said Director Mark Robinson." The Damn Yankees musical was performed
on March 7th, 8th, and 9th. In this comedy featuring Chris Park as
Joe Hardy at the age of 22, Devin Coyle as Joe Boyd at an older age,
Kyle Johnson as Mr. Applegate (the devil), and Caitlin Ray as Lola,
Joe would do anything just to get one more big hit. He says he would
sell his soul if he could do just that and win the pennant. Mr. Appelgate
tempts him to give that back to him only if he sells him his soul.
Joe hesitates at first because he wants to stay with his wife, but
Mr. Applegate explains that he has Lola to keep him company while
he is young and playing baseball again. After a while in the baseball
business Joe realizes that it isn't what he wants and goes back to
his old life with his wife.
Many weeks were used in
preparation for this play. The first day back from Christmas break
January 6th, the cast went hard to work. They worked almost every
day of the week. They sacrificed many study hall hours and a lot of
free time. Sophomore Kyle Johnson (Mr. Applegate) stated, "It
wasn't hard at all to keep up with homework and grades. My grades
actually improved during the play. It helps you manage your time a
lot better." He then added, "Although it wasn't tough to
keep my grades, it was a little harder acting this time because there
was a lot more memorization and choreography to learn. On top of that
it didn't make it any easier to have 11 costume changes."
Robinson has directed 43
plays throughout his career, and four at Mount Michael. Although it
is evident that  Robinson
has experience in directing, it was his first time directing a Comedy.
He said, "It was a lot more fun this time." When asking
him what he was expecting he replied, "I expected it to be a
fight to get people to sing and dance the way I wanted them to."
One tip he pointed out was that you have to maintain high energy while
acting in a Comedy. It may sound easy but at times it's quite hard.
He also said that you have to believe that what is happening to you
is real, even though there are some extraordinary things that wouldn't
really ever happen. Robinson worked with 16 Mount Michael students
and seven girls from schools including Marian, Millard North, Elkhorn,
and Dana College. "The cast was very good this time, and we had
very talented freshmen to work with," said Robinson. Freshmen
Tim Agnew stated, "I had a lot more fun then I expected doing
this play. My middle school plays weren't as exciting." Freshmen
Mitch Poe also said that he had a lot of fun.
Although Amadeus is still
Robinson's Pride and Joy, he thinks that Damn Yankees went very well
and was pleased with the performance. Robinson is already back working
hard planning the 2003 fall play. -Article and Photos by Matt
Haas, Video by Scott Lindgren |
