damnyankees More than 50 students of Renaissance High School for the Arts will collaborate on two performances of Damn Yankees this Friday and Saturday nights at the Center Theater in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Both shows begin at 7:30 p.m.

Damn Yankees is best known as 1955 Broadway musical that featured original choreography by the legendary Bob Fosse and gave 1,019 performances in its original run.

But among a group of boys who were born in the mid-1950s and grew up on Monterey Street in Bellflower, Damn Yankees was known as the only musical of any kind worth seeing—although we only ever saw the 1958 movie version that would play every night for a week at a time (and twice on Sunday) on Channel 9’s “Million Dollar Movie.”

We loved Damn Yankees because it is about baseball—a middle-aged fan who sells his soul to the devil for a chance to lead his favorite team to victory in the pennant race against the New York Yankees. Also, because the devil was played by Ray Walston, who was then playing Uncle Martin on My Favorite Martian.

Damn Yankees is based on Douglass Wallop’s novel, “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant,” and set during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League Baseball. After the middle-aged fan becomes baseball sensation Joe Hardy and transforms the hapless Washington Senators into a winning team, he realizes the true worth of the life he left behind and … well, you’ll have to buy a ticket.

The production is a collaboration of Renaissance High School for the Arts’ theater, visual arts, dance, and music departments. The musical score will be played by the RHSA orchestra.

Long Beach Renaissance High School for the Arts is the visual and performing arts high school for the Long Beach Unified School District. The school provides a dynamic and innovative education that embraces and integrates arts, academics, and technology with equity of access for promising young performers and artists. Eligible students receive pre-professional training by a staff of exemplary artist-teachers and professional guest teachers.

DAMN YANKEES THE CENTER THEATRE • 300 E OCEAN BLVD • LONG BEACH 90802 • TICKETS AT BOX OFFICE 562.436.3661 OR TICKETMASTER 800.745.3000  • FRI-SAT 7:30PM • $8-$20 • THIS WEEKEND ONLY