All you really need is heart.
That’s what they say about baseball – though that turned out to be a big, fat lie when the Rockies got swept by the Damn Sox. But the axiom holds pretty true for “Damn Yankees,” and for amateur community theater in general.
The Longmont Theatre Company has miles and miles of heart. Even if, like the Rockies, they aren’t winning a World Series anytime soon.
Its new production isn’t going to make anyone forget Gwen Verdon … or even Jerry Lewis, for that matter. But at the stupefying age of 50, this is a Main Street company that’s as much of an institution in this town as baseball itself.
When you think of some of our longest-running companies – among them Theatre Group at 37, Su Teatro at 35, even the Denver Center Theatre Company at a spry 28 – that’s nowhere near 50. It’s no accident that our oldest companies, like Greeley’s Little Theatre of the Rockies (73), Arvada’s Players Guild (72) and Longmont survive and thrive with almost no attention from the mainstream media.
The goals here are no different than at the Denver Center, just the resources and experience level. No matter. A show like “Damn Yankees” survives on pure charm.
It’s got vendors tossing Cracker Jack. A multigenerational cast of 24. A real, live orchestra of four that wanders the audience in baseball uniforms, greeting their neighbors. An intermission raffle and a round of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” A cute little pooch my dog would call “a snack on a string.”
There are also other hallmarks of community theater: Adorably self-conscious acting. A “Lucky Strike” billboard that misspells “tobacco.” A gaggle of friends and family in the back who clap and shout far more loudly than they should. Loved ones sneaking illegal snapshots.
It’s even charming how they handle sudden illness. On Sunday, the actor playing Lola was too sick to sing – but not too sick to act, so on she went. But apparently the only other actor capable of singing Lola’s songs was already playing feisty reporter Gloria (Rachel Sievers). So for Lola’s songs, a game, unseen Sievers sang her heart out into a backstage mic while Lola lip-synced on stage – even during duets with a mic-less partner! Safe to say, not a solution the Arvada Center would have embraced.
That’s the charm of community theater.
Not that it would matter if there weren’t also some real talent onstage. Director Ricky Lee Landrum has it, especially among a pretty fair group of Washington Senators – those dancing, singing ballplayers who make up the backbone of this fantasy about the old man who sells his soul for the chance to knock the pinstripes off those arrogant Yanks.
As is almost always the case in community theater, the singing and dancing far exceeds the acting. Tom McIntyre leads a likable group of guys who deliver home-run harmonies despite not bearing the remotest physical resemblance to Matt Holliday. Vicki Bliss smartly gives her cast stylized, manageable choreography that looks great because it’s within their capabilities.
The company gave it their imperfect all, and the crowd reacted with a perfectly wonderful standing ovation. That’s community theater: A company meeting its community’s modest expectations this day, as it has for 50 years.
“Damn Yankees”
Musical. Longmont Theatre Company, 513 Main St. Starring Mark McIntyre and Jay Moretz. 2 hours, 40 minutes. Through Nov. 17. 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. $15-$17. 303-772- 5200,
