The 1950s musical comedy Damn Yankees gave American popular song two major hits: "Whatever Lola Wants" and "(You Gotta Have] Heart." The "Damn Yankees" of the title are the New York baseball team—in the 1950s the almost certain winners of the American league pennant. Douglass Wallop's witty novel, the best-selling The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, is built on the premise that for the lowly Washington Senators to defeat the Yankees for the American League title would require divine—or at least infernal—intervention.

Virtually the entire creative team of the musical had just had a major hit, Pajama Game, a musical about a labor strike. Producers Frederick Brisson, Robert Griffith, and Harold Prince; director George Abbott, choreographer Bob Fosse, and composers and lyricists Jerry Ross and Richard Adler now turned from the theme of America at work to that of America at play.

The story is an adaptation of the Faust legend. Middle-aged Washington fan Joe Boyd (Robert Schafer) mutters that he would sell for "one good long ball hitter" who could help the team beat "the damn Yankees." The devil, in the form of smooth-talking Mr. Applegate (Ray Walston) offers to grant the wish. Joe insists on an escape clause, a deadline by which he can back out of the deal.

Joe then becomes young and athletic Joe Hardy (Stephen Douglass), the Senators' salvation. The escape clause is an excellent "ticking clock" plot device that requires Joe and Applegate to wage continuous battle for Joe's soul. Applegate's chief weapon is the temptress Lola (Gwen Verdon, in her first starring role). Formerly an exceedingly ugly girl from Rhode Island, Lola has sold her soul decades ago to become the most beautiful woman in the world. It turns out that while baseball is the story's background, the real subject is the obsession with youth, athleticism, and beauty.

Damn Yankees made stars of Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston. Verdon was already admired for her dancing ability, displayed in Can-Can, but she was stunning as an actress and comedienne, neatly spoofing her own seductive moves, particularly in her strip-tease number, "Whatever Lola Wants." During rehearsals, when it became clear that Verdon lifted every scene she was in to new heights, the producers added to her role, including a much earlier introduction of her character that established her ability to conquer men.

But not all men. As it turns out, Joe manages to resist her and remain faithful to his wife. This was the most unconventional aspect of the play: the audience (especially the women) rooting for the two romantic leads to stay out of each other's arms. At the end, Applegate, enraged at Lola's failure, transforms her back into a repulsive hag.

Walston's devil was a glib Madison Avenue type with only glimpses of underlying evil and rage only momentarily. (The persona was similar to the character he played in the TV hit My Favorite Martian, minus the evil.) His costuming was subtle: regular Brooks Brothers suits, but with a little too much red in the accessories and trim (including red socks. A very nice touch is that Joe wins the pennant for the Senators after he is transformed back into Joe Boyd, in a heroic effort full of "Heart."

The musical was transformed into a successful film with the original creative team and cast virtually intact, though critics attacked Warner Bros.' substitution of the nearly expressionless Tab Hunter as Joe Hardy. In the 1990s the show was revived on Broadway in a successful run, enlivened when comedian Jerry Lewis stepped into the role of Applegate. In its original run, Damn Yankees played 1019 performances.

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