In this Tony Award-winning Best Play, playwright Richard Greenberg celebrates the personal and professional intricacies of America's favorite pastime. When Darren Lemming (Jesse Williams), the star center fielder for the Empires, comes out of the closet, the reception off the field reveals a barrage of long-held unspoken prejudices. Facing some hostile teammates and fraught friendships, Darren is forced to contend with the challenges of being a gay person of color within the confines of a classic American institution. As the Empires struggle to rally toward a championship season, the players and their fans begin to question tradition, their loyalties, and the price of victory.
The euphoria of discovery conveyed by Richard Greenberg through a gay outsider who becomes an impassioned baseball fan hasn't dimmed a bit in the two decades since Take Me Out was first produced. Other things, however, have changed in director Scott Ellis' finely tuned and superbly cast Broadway revival for Second Stage. Issues that once seemed too reflective of the playwright's hand at work now seem urgently keyed into a contemporary world in which masculine anxiety and its bilious consequences are being held up for scrutiny.
Ellis and his cast deliver scene after scene of great drama. How Greenberg gets to some of those scenes in the second act is little more than sloppy dramatic license, unfortunately. The final confrontation between Mungitt and Lemming, as mediated by Kippy, provides emotional fireworks. Unexplained is that Mungitt landed in prison for murdering Lemming's best friend, Davey Battle (Brandon J. Dirden), and Lemming would be the last person allowed to see the accused at this moment in time. Even shakier is the idea that Lemming would have a best friend who's a raving religious bigot. Before Lemming came out of the closet, did Battle never express his 'pervert' view of homosexuality? This 'Take Me Out' is worth seeing, even if it's not built on a firm playing field.
2002 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
2003 | Broadway |
Broadway Transfer Broadway |
2022 | Broadway |
Second Stage Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
2022 | Broadway |
Broadway Return Engagement Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Jesse Tyler Ferguson |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Awards | Jesse Tyler Ferguson |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Awards | Jesse Williams |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Take Me Out |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Patrick J. Adams |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Scott Ellis |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Jesse Tyler Ferguson |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Michael Oberholtzer |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Take Me Out |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Jesse Tyler Ferguson |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Michael Oberholtzer |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Jesse Williams |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Take Me Out |
2021 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Awards | Patrick J Adams |
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