Neil Patrick Harris is selling his soul to Broadway one more time. On Sunday, September 27, producers gathered at Yankee Stadium — ahead of what was supposed to be the Yankees' final regular-season home game — to announce that "Damn Yankees" is heading back to Broadway, with Harris starring as the devilish Mr. Applegate and Julianne Hough making her Broadway musical debut as the seductive Lola.

The revival will begin previews at the Marquis Theatre on March 24, 2027 — the day before Opening Day — and officially open April 20, with performances currently booked through late November, according to Playbill. Hamilton alum Austin Scott rounds out the leads as Young Joe. Tony winner Sergio Trujillo directs and choreographs, with a reworked book by Will Power and Pulitzer winner Doug Wright, plus additional lyrics from Lynn Ahrens.

A Modern Pitch on an Old Classic

The production isn't just recasting a 1955 Tony winner — it's rewiring it. The story now unfolds in the early 2000s, with the Baltimore Orioles standing in for the original's Washington Senators, and both Joe Boyd and his devil-made-younger alter ego Joe Hardy reimagined as Black players, adding a new layer about Joe's father playing in the Negro Leagues during segregation, per Variety's reporting. It marks the show's first Broadway revival since 1994, and follows a well-reviewed 2025 Arena Stage staging that scored 13 Helen Hayes Award nominations.

The bigger twist: Major League Baseball and MLB Studios are officially co-producing, a first-ever partnership between the league and a Broadway musical. Harris leaned into the novelty of the crossover, telling reporters it was "an exciting opportunity" to pull in audiences who don't normally buy theater tickets, and that "this is the first time the MLB has been in partnership with a Broadway show," according to a New York Times account carried by Yahoo Entertainment.

"Playing someone that's devilish is always good — it's always fun to be naughty," Harris said of taking on Applegate.

Harris also framed the role as a bucket-list swing: after years of smaller, more "bespoke" stage work, he said he'd always wanted to headline a classic, big-ensemble Broadway musical with full-scale dance numbers.

Rained Out at Home Plate

Not everything went according to script. Per the Times report, the team had planned a far splashier reveal — Harris throwing out a ceremonial first pitch in a smoke-emitting vest, Scott belting the national anthem, and Hough dance-delivering a baseball to the pitcher's mound. Rain at Yankee Stadium scrapped all three set pieces, leaving organizers to fall back on a straightforward press conference, as documented by BroadwayWorld's photo and video coverage of the event.

Tickets are on sale now through the production's official site. With previews still six months out, expect Harris — a five-time Emmy winner and Tony champ in his own right — and first-time Broadway leading lady Hough to spend the run-up doing plenty of press, and MLB to lean hard into cross-promoting the show during the postseason and into next spring's season opener.