Devil Dog Damn Yankee Macarons - MacTweets Challenge #20

You gotta have heart

All you really need is heart

When the odds are sayin' you'll never win

that's when the grin should start

I am not a sports fan. I don't follow a team or attend games, live or on TV. So when those playful Mactweets gals, Jamie and Deeba issued this month's Ballpark Snacks theme, the first thing that came to mind was the musical Damn Yankees.

These may not be typical ball park snacks. Instead of hot dogs, I am offering up devil dogs. They are my homage to Damn Yankees, a classic musical about America's favorite pastime in which the devil character is a major player. 

We've got to think about the game,

The Game, the game!

Booze and broads may be great,

Tough they're great they'l have to wait,

While we think about the game!

I have a BFA in Theater.For the first several years after college, before a career switch to television, I worked on over 40 Broadway and Off Broadway shows in various producing and management capacities. I was lucky to work for and interact with legendary Broadway producers and stars. Back then, the Broadway theater community was a tight knit group of old school impressarios and committed stage performers. This was before the (unfortunate) Las Vegas-ification of Times Square and Disney-fication of the theater business itself.

Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Mo!

Came upon the scene

As fresh as Listerine

He sneezed and blew away a calf

His laughter ripped a barn in half

Go, go, go, go, Joe

So before I was a TV Diva I was a huge Theater Geek. I grew up going to Broadway shows and as a passionate dancer, loved all Broadway musicals. Most of all, genius choreographer/director Bob Fosse was my idol.

Strike three ball four 

walk a run'll tie the score

Yer blind ump! Yer blind ump!

You must be outta your mind ump

I loved everything he created. From Damn Yankees to Sweet Charity to Pippin (raise your hand if you saw The Big Deal). His wife, Gwen Verdon, was an extraordinary performer I admired as well. 


One of Gwen's most famous roles was Lola, the devil's secret seduction weapon in both stage and screen productions of the Faustian musical Damn Yankees. The Devil (Applegate) sets Lola out to seduce Joe, a middle aged man who made a pact with Applegate to become a young baseball star. Joe wants to help The Senators, his beloved baseball team beat those damn Yankees. Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets. Except Joe who is still in love with the wife he left behind and madness ensues.

Whatever Lola wants. Lola gets

And little man, little Lola wants you

Make up your mind to have no regrets

Recline yourself, resign yourself, you're through.

Years later when I lived in LA and working as a TV producer, I went to an event honoring several ladies from movie musicals. After the presentation there was a reception during which I made a quick dash to the ladies room. Coming out of the stall, I washed my hands and began to touch up my makeup. Another woman emerged from another stall and our eyes met in the mirror. It was Gwen Verdon. However aged, her playful beauty and fabulous dancer bod were both still intact. I smiled. She smiled. We started chatting about this and that, the presentation, etc. I was about to leave and then I broke my own cardinal show biz rule. I turned back to Ms. Verdon and as dignified as I could manage, I gushed. I thanked her for her talent, for setting the standard, for inspiring me and fueling my show biz dreams. She was gracious and lovely. I felt uplifted and awkward at the same time. Ok, at least I didn't ask for a picture. That would have been beyond awkward considering we were in the ladies room.


I walked back in to the reception thinking about the little girl I was all those years ago dancing around in my childhood bedroom or in local community productions to songs like You Gotta Have Heart, Hey Big Spender and Magic to Do. And  here I was years later, an Emmy nominated TV producer sharing a ladies room moment with one of the greatest musical performers ever. It was a measure of my journey and I would be lying if I didn't say it made me a little sad at the time to think about how far I'd strayed from Theater.

  
So these are for Gwen Verdon, one of the brightest lights Broadway and Movie Musicals has ever seen...and forever the quintessential Lola.

You gotta know just what to say and how to say it

You gotta know what game to play and how to play it

You gotta stack those decks with a couple-a extra aces

And this queen's has her aces

In all the right places!

Devil Dog Macarons

I could not resist putting little fondant horns on these. I am sure I need professional help about compulsively dressing up macarons in little outfits.

These devil dog macarons are snack food good. You can't lose with a chocolate marshmallow combo.

For the Chocolate Shells:

 I used David Lebovitz's recipe. I wanted my shells as dark as possible to mimic a Devil Dog so I threw caution to the wind and added 4 tablespoons of cocoa instead of David's recommended three. The shells came out fine just a bit chewier than usual.

For the Marshmallow Frosting Filling:

I searched for a copycat Drake's Devil Dog recipe and found this one over at Famous Tasty Recipes. I used the filling recipe. It was delish.

I see cannibals munchin' a missionary luncheon
The years may have flown but the memory stays
Like the hopes that were dashed 

when the stock market crashed
Ha ha ha ha
Those were the good old days