The musical Damn Yankees opens at the 46th Street Theater on Broadway, starring Stephen Douglass as Joe Hardy, Gwen Verdon as Lola and Ray Walston as Mr. Applegate. It will be a huge success, with 1,019 performances in its first run and will be turned into a successful movie in 1958. It is based on the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, published in 1954 by Douglass Wallop, a lifelong fan of the Washington Senators.

This Day In Baseball

On May 5, 1955 — The musical Damn Yankees opens at the 46th Street Theater on Broadway, starring Stephen Douglass as Joe Hardy, Gwen Verdon as Lola and Ray Walston as Mr. Applegate. It will be a huge success, with 1,019 performances in its first run and will be turned into a successful movie in 1958. It is based on the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, published in 1954 by Douglass Wallop, a lifelong fan of the Washington Senators.

Source:
Baseball Reference May 5