OOC: 1994 soundtrack liner notes summary
Apr. 10th, 2014 12:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ofthosegoodoldThere are, as with any popular musical, countless productions of Damn Yankees to draw from in characterizing Applegate. The 1994 revival also substantially revised the story and streamlined portrayals of various characters; while I continue to take inspiration from multiple productions, I prefer the story as told in stagings of the revival, and so I provide the summary from the 1994 soundtrack to explain Applegate's canon. This is what I will be using when I eventually put him through canon.
This summary is from the soundtrack liner notes. I didn't write it. You can tell, because it reads like a bad writer sold his soul for the opportunity of writing copy for Broadway soundtracks, but forgot to ask for talent.
As the musical opens, Meg Boyd sings with the other wives ("Six Months Out of Every Year") as Joe Boyd and the other husbands continue their seasonal obsession with our national pastime, baseball.
After Meg goes to bed, Joe goes out to the porch to ruminate about the appalling fate of his beloved Washington Senators, actually offering his soul in exchange for a longball hitter. Mr Applegate materializes immediately, and offers to make Boyd twenty-two years old and a genuine sports superstar in exchange for his soul. Boyd agrees, with the stipulation that he have an escape clause that he can exercise, should he choose to, and with a handshake, the deal is concluded. As Meg reads up on her Bridge lessons and drifts into sleep, Joe sings goodbye to her ("Goodbye, Old Girl") while Mr Applegate turns the middle-aged fan into Joe Hardy.
Meanwhile, the hapless Washington Senators can't seem to do anything right ("Blooper Ballet"). They are earnestly harangued by their manager, Benny Van Buren, to give something more to the game than usual ("Heart"). Sohovik, the catcher, Smokey, the pitcher, and outfielder Rocky get the message and pass it on to other ballplayers. Applegate arrives to insinuate protege into practice and consequently into a job. Sportswriter Gloria Thorpe dubs Joe Hardy "Shoeless Joe" and he is immediately turned into a big media star ("Shoeless Joe" reprise), which alarms Applegate, who begins to see Joe demonstrating more independence than is wise. He calls up his trusty helper Lola, who assures him that she knows just how to captivate Joe ("A Little Brains, A Little Talent").
Joe, however, is lonely, and goes back to his home to rent a room from his wife and her sister. Applegate tries to interfere but only manages to set most of the kitchen afire, and Joe remains to rent the room and help Meg with chores he never attempted before as her husband ("A Man Doesn't Know").
Applegate introduces Lola to Joe after a successful ballgame, but her classic seduction ("Whatever Lola Wants") fails and, enraged and furious, Applegate decides to launch a smear campaign against Joe to keep him from winning, and exiles a chastised Lola to teach her a lesson.
ACT II begins just days before the end of the season, with Washington leading the league. If they can win one more game, they'll clinch the pennant one full day before Applegate's contract states, and Joe can escape with his soul intact. Backstage at Sister's hospital benefit, the ballplayers rehearse the dreaded Mambo while Applegate coerces Gloria Thorpe into triggering a hearing over Joe's trumped-up false identity charge, and team owner Adam Welsh and Benny Van Buren try to prevent Joe from appearing in front of a potentially hostile audience. Joe, frantic to help Meg and Sister, is exhorted to leave to prepare his defense before the baseball commission, but not before he gets Lola to substitute for an injured Sister at the benefit, which she does to the surprise of all, including her ("Who's Got the Pain?").
Threatened with playing without Joe, the ballplayers make a pathetic attempt at group concentration ("The Game") as Joe decides to move out of Meg's home to spare her further involvement and, hearing of her pain and confusion, promises to exercise his escape clause, no matter what. Meg, mystified and confused, tries unsuccessfully to sleep while images of her husband and young boarder blend in her head ("Near to You").
The next morning Joe appears before Applegate and Lola, announcing his decision to testify, to play as much as possible, and rack up winning runs before exercising his escape clause. Furious, and bent on revenge, Applegate ruminates on his glorious past ("Those Were the Good Old Days").
Gloria Thorpe capsulizes the events of the hearing ("The Trial"), which brings Joe and Applegate into direct conflict. Applegate sends Joe into Limbo, hoping to immobilize him during the final game, but Lola follows him, exhorts him to play, and stalls Applegate ("Two Lost Souls").
While Joe plays desperately for Washington, Applegate and Lola arrive, and Applegate begins to foil Joe's final attempt at bat as the sweep hand of the clock moves inexorably to nine o'clock - the hour at which Joe loses his soul. Joe throws down his bat at nine, and is instantly transformed into middle-aged Joe Boyd again, who, rather than running out of the park, takes one frantic swing at the oncoming ball, and manages to hit it over the short wall of the Park near right field, thus winning the pennant.
Back at home, Applegate, with Lola in tow, interrupts Joe's reconciliation with Meg, and attempts to seduce him back, while, locked securely in his wife's arms, the fan escapes the devil's clutches.
This summary is from the soundtrack liner notes. I didn't write it. You can tell, because it reads like a bad writer sold his soul for the opportunity of writing copy for Broadway soundtracks, but forgot to ask for talent.
As the musical opens, Meg Boyd sings with the other wives ("Six Months Out of Every Year") as Joe Boyd and the other husbands continue their seasonal obsession with our national pastime, baseball.
After Meg goes to bed, Joe goes out to the porch to ruminate about the appalling fate of his beloved Washington Senators, actually offering his soul in exchange for a longball hitter. Mr Applegate materializes immediately, and offers to make Boyd twenty-two years old and a genuine sports superstar in exchange for his soul. Boyd agrees, with the stipulation that he have an escape clause that he can exercise, should he choose to, and with a handshake, the deal is concluded. As Meg reads up on her Bridge lessons and drifts into sleep, Joe sings goodbye to her ("Goodbye, Old Girl") while Mr Applegate turns the middle-aged fan into Joe Hardy.
Meanwhile, the hapless Washington Senators can't seem to do anything right ("Blooper Ballet"). They are earnestly harangued by their manager, Benny Van Buren, to give something more to the game than usual ("Heart"). Sohovik, the catcher, Smokey, the pitcher, and outfielder Rocky get the message and pass it on to other ballplayers. Applegate arrives to insinuate protege into practice and consequently into a job. Sportswriter Gloria Thorpe dubs Joe Hardy "Shoeless Joe" and he is immediately turned into a big media star ("Shoeless Joe" reprise), which alarms Applegate, who begins to see Joe demonstrating more independence than is wise. He calls up his trusty helper Lola, who assures him that she knows just how to captivate Joe ("A Little Brains, A Little Talent").
Joe, however, is lonely, and goes back to his home to rent a room from his wife and her sister. Applegate tries to interfere but only manages to set most of the kitchen afire, and Joe remains to rent the room and help Meg with chores he never attempted before as her husband ("A Man Doesn't Know").
Applegate introduces Lola to Joe after a successful ballgame, but her classic seduction ("Whatever Lola Wants") fails and, enraged and furious, Applegate decides to launch a smear campaign against Joe to keep him from winning, and exiles a chastised Lola to teach her a lesson.
ACT II begins just days before the end of the season, with Washington leading the league. If they can win one more game, they'll clinch the pennant one full day before Applegate's contract states, and Joe can escape with his soul intact. Backstage at Sister's hospital benefit, the ballplayers rehearse the dreaded Mambo while Applegate coerces Gloria Thorpe into triggering a hearing over Joe's trumped-up false identity charge, and team owner Adam Welsh and Benny Van Buren try to prevent Joe from appearing in front of a potentially hostile audience. Joe, frantic to help Meg and Sister, is exhorted to leave to prepare his defense before the baseball commission, but not before he gets Lola to substitute for an injured Sister at the benefit, which she does to the surprise of all, including her ("Who's Got the Pain?").
Threatened with playing without Joe, the ballplayers make a pathetic attempt at group concentration ("The Game") as Joe decides to move out of Meg's home to spare her further involvement and, hearing of her pain and confusion, promises to exercise his escape clause, no matter what. Meg, mystified and confused, tries unsuccessfully to sleep while images of her husband and young boarder blend in her head ("Near to You").
The next morning Joe appears before Applegate and Lola, announcing his decision to testify, to play as much as possible, and rack up winning runs before exercising his escape clause. Furious, and bent on revenge, Applegate ruminates on his glorious past ("Those Were the Good Old Days").
Gloria Thorpe capsulizes the events of the hearing ("The Trial"), which brings Joe and Applegate into direct conflict. Applegate sends Joe into Limbo, hoping to immobilize him during the final game, but Lola follows him, exhorts him to play, and stalls Applegate ("Two Lost Souls").
While Joe plays desperately for Washington, Applegate and Lola arrive, and Applegate begins to foil Joe's final attempt at bat as the sweep hand of the clock moves inexorably to nine o'clock - the hour at which Joe loses his soul. Joe throws down his bat at nine, and is instantly transformed into middle-aged Joe Boyd again, who, rather than running out of the park, takes one frantic swing at the oncoming ball, and manages to hit it over the short wall of the Park near right field, thus winning the pennant.
Back at home, Applegate, with Lola in tow, interrupts Joe's reconciliation with Meg, and attempts to seduce him back, while, locked securely in his wife's arms, the fan escapes the devil's clutches.
