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‘Damn Yankees’
Sept. 9 – Nov. 9
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
Tickets start at $49 (fees included)
Arenastage.org
As a kid in Syracuse, N.Y., out musical director Adam Rothenberg was terrible at sports. Though part of an athletic family – his sisters played softball, figure skated, pole vaulted, and his father coached – he says he “couldn’t catch a ball to save his life.”
But Rothenberg, 31, found solace off the baseball diamond: “We had a piano in the house. After games, I’d play piano for hours. For me it was a way to differentiate myself from the rest of the family. To show my strengths.”
Coming full circle, the Northwestern University and Juilliard-educated Rothenberg is now at Arena Stage music directing a re-imagined production of “Damn Yankees,”that famed 1955 musical comedy hit all about baseball.
Transported to the early 21st century, the production still follows the Faustian deal that transforms a middle-aged sports fan into a young baseball star and includes those iconic songs like “Whatever Lola Wants” and “Who’s Got the Pain?” But it’s not all the same. Reworked by hip-hop theater pioneer Will Power and Tony Award-winning playwright Doug Wright, and performed by a mostly POC cast, it’s more reflective of a different time.
New York City-based Rothenberg, a self-described “proud queer man floating through the world happily single,” says, “I pursued classical piano but couldn’t keep away from musical theater, which lit me up. I’m fortunate that I don’t have to choose. I can do a chamber music one day and be back to musical theater the next.
WASHGINTON BLADE: Thoughts on the “Damn Yankee’s” reimagining?
ADAM ROTHENBERG: From the musical perspective, there’s lyrist Lynn Ahrens. She’s a sorceress in that she manages to insert new words in a way that it’s difficult to tell where the old stop and the new begin; it all feels very natural. It will be interesting when audiences come, especially those familiar with the show. I wonder if they’ll be aware of the changes.
While it’s an existing piece it feels like we’re creating a new musical.
BLADE: Talk a little bit about the part you play in the production.
ROTHENBERG: As music director, my job is to teach the music to the cast, to make sure they know what to sing and how to sing it, to teach them the glorious ensemble arrangements, parts, and harmonies.
Thisensemble cast is jaw-droppingly talented. In addition to singing intricate harmonies, they’re able to dance at a stunningly high level. I’m blown away by this cast’s ability to execute difficult things as well as their flexibility to change things up when something’s not working.
Once that part gets rolling, I begin to rehearse the orchestra. And that means some long days for me. As show runs, I’ll be here conducting from a piano, typically playing with one hand and conducting with another or nodding directions.
BLADE: Share your affection for the musicals from Broadway’s “Golden Era” [the big shows from 1940s to the early 1960s].
ROTHENBERG: I trained in the classical music world. Coming from the place of the threes Bs — Brahms, Beethoven, and Bach — there was an effort to explore and preserve older pieces. Similarly, it has given me a fondness for the old Broadway musicals where there’s also much to explore. But growing up, I loved “Wicked” too.
BLADE: Speaking of reimagining. One of your last big jobs was as associate conductor for the re-imagined production of the recent Tony Award-winning revival of “Sunset Boulevard” starring Nicole Scherzinger.
ROTHENBERG: That was truly a dream job. The show with its sweeping orchestral score was exciting enough, but when I learned that the production was turning the whole idea of what “Sunset Boulevard” might look like on its ear, I was all in.
BLADE: You’ve not only worked on classic musicals but you’ve conducted for shows featuring some classic American performers. Patti Lupone for instance.
ROTHENBERG: We met on the “Company” revival. That was my first time conducting on Broadway. Everyone was truly kind with me. I’ve stepped in for her regular musical director and have done a couple concerts with her at Lincoln Center. We always have a good time.
Once, we were trying to figure out what to wear. She suggested we both wear black tie. They’ll never be able to tell us apart. So, it was tuxes for both of us.
With theater, you can show as little or as much of your queer identity as you want. I can walk into work and be exactly who I am, and that’s something I never take for granted.
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