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THE DEVIL IN JERRY LEWIS At "69, going on 9," the legendary comic brings his unique brand of mischief to Damn Yankees Jerry Lewis pops out of the revolving door at Carmine's, across W. 44th from the Marquis where he's currently holding court as The Devil in Damn Yankees. Not a ta-dah—not even a boing boing—marks the moment, but "A Star" moves among us all the same. He moves with an almost musical self-assurance, via a gait that he got from Bob Hope—the easy-breezy amble that says you know a lot about either gags or golf—and, on him, it looks swell. Really swell. He kibitzes with the cashier till a waiter signals the table's ready; then, slipping into automatic star stride, he's off. "Goin' amongst 'em" has never been a chore for Jerry Lewis—a star's gotta do what a star's gotta do—and, as usual, smiles of recognition line his path like falling dominoes. Along the way an older, bolder soul stands up, utters the generic "Howzit going, Jer?" and extends his hand as a friend might. Lewis takes the hand in the manner it's offered, presses it warmly and chides, "You don't write," then saunters on, letting the laughs explode behind him and follow him to his seat. Mitchell Maxwell, a producer of Damn Yankees, didn't "paper" Carmine's with Central Casting just to get that response, either—no matter how well it illustrates why he hired Lewis to play the show's soul-swapping Satan. "The thing we're most excited about," Maxwell admits, "is we're bringing a great star to Broadway. Other the Glenn Close, we don't have a great star on Broadway—an international star where you say, 'You gotta see this guy'—and Broadway needs grandeur. Apart from his performance and the fact he'll sell tickets, I think he's going to bring an aura of star power back to Broadway." [[Image of Jerry Lewis smiling]] On the surface of it Lewis might seem an unlikely choice to follow Victor Garber's fiendishly funny Applegate. For starters, they're 23 years apart in age—exactly: on the same day this month Garber turns (a younger-than-springtime) 46, Lewis turns (a just-as-astonishing) 69—"69, going on 9," he likes to say. According to Lewis's own clock, his comedy comes from the kid inside, alive and kicking after all these chronological years. "I'm really, basically, nine, and I've always been that. I've never, ever allowed the child within me to die. I love the fact that the mischief in me is alive and that next year, I will celebrate my seventieth birthday on the stage of Damn Yankees somewhere in America." When the press pressed him for the "special quality" he'll bring to the role that wasn't there before, Lewis went for the easy laugh—in one immodest word: "brilliance!" Actually, it looks as if he's taking the Peck's Bad Boy approach to deviltry, playing it mischievous and childlike—a tact he took "for most of my career. The beauty of Applegate—what I saw in the character, when I saw the show—was that if I can bring mischief to this character,it's going to be fun for everyone. That quality wouldn't fit with Victor, but I'm going to play with it. In rehearsal, I'm hoping to find places for these little pieces that have been going [[Advertisement]] [[Image Michael Crawford]] EFX starring Michael Crawford NOTHING WILL EFFECT YOU LIKE EFX! Las Vegas, a city build on spectacular, has reached new heights with the most extraordinary production show ever stages before a live audience. It's called EFX, starring Michael Crawford, the original star of Phantom of the Opera. EFX is nothing short of a total emotional and sensory experience. MOre than mere entertainment, EFX is guaranteed to have an effect upon you that is nothing short of profound. For show tickets and room reservations 1-800-929-1111 MGM[[symbol]]GRAND LAS VEGAS
