Commentary: 'Damn Yankees' not likely to inspire 'Encores!'

July 14, 2008 It's not likely that the limited-run revival of "Damn Yankees," which officially debuted Thursday at the City Center for a three-week run (following five days of prevues), will inspire demands for a open-ended Broadway run as three former "Encores!" presentations so famously have done. The most spectacular of the transfers has been, as any Broadway addict can tell you, "Chicago," which is still running 11 years after its brief "Encores!" run launched a November 1996 Main Stem revival; also "Gypsy," which caused so much buzz as the first "Summer Encores!" presentation last year that it led to the current redo now draped with Tonys for Patti LuPone, Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti. With Broadway ticket prices maxing at $110 per seat, any legiter needs more snap, crackle and pop than this new show possesses to justify a Main Stem gamble.

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