Take Me Out (play)
Take Me Out is a play by American playwright Richard Greenberg. After a staging at the Donmar Warehouse in London, it premiered Off-Broadway on September 5, 2002 at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. It made its Broadway debut on February 27, 2003 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 355 performances and won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Play. A Broadway revival opened at the Hayes Theater on April 4, 2022.
Take Me Out
- Darren Lemming
- Kippy Sunderstrom
- Mason Marzac
- Shane Mungitt
- Davey Battle
- Toddy Koovitz
- Rodriguez
- Martinez
- Skipper
- William R. Danziger
- Jason Chenier
- Takeshi Kawabata
- Policemen
2002
Donmar Warehouse
London, England
English
Homophobia, racism, and class in sport
Drama
A baseball locker room
Background[edit]
While Glenn Burke was out to teammates and team owners in the 1970s and Billy Bean came out in 1999 after retiring from playing in Major League Baseball for eight seasons, at the time of the writing of this play no Major League Baseball player had ever come out to the public during his career. This play is the dramatic exploration of what such an event might be like.
Playwright Greenberg has stated that one of the compulsions for creating a baseball play was his complete immersion into the sport in 1999 after following the New York Yankees' (then-)record 114-win season the previous year, beginning with David Wells' perfect game.[1] Many believe the inspiration for Darren Lemming is former American Major League Baseball player Derek Jeter of the Yankees, and for racist pitcher Shane Mungitt, former National League pitcher John Rocker, then of the Atlanta Braves.[2][3][4]
Productions[edit]
London (2002)[edit]
The show received its world premiere at the Donmar Warehouse in London on June 20, 2002.[5] The production was directed by Joe Mantello and starred Daniel Sunjata, Denis O'Hare, Neal Huff, Frederick Weller, Kevin Carroll, Dominic Fumusa, Gene Gabriel, Robert M. Jimenez, Joe Lisi, Kohl Sudduth, and James Yaegashi. It ran until August 3 of the same year.
The production transferred off-Broadway to the Joseph Papp Public Theater later that year with the same cast and direction where it ran until 2003.
Broadway (2003-2004)[edit]
The next year, the show transferred to the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway with the same cast[6] with the exception of Dominic Fumusa, who was replaced by David Eigenberg. It opened on February 27, 2003. It featured designs by Scott Pask (scenic), Jess Goldstein (costume), Kevin Adams (lighting), and Janet Kalas (sound). At the 2003 Tony Awards, the production won the award for Best Play, Mantello won Best Direction of a Play, and O'Hare won Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. It closed on January 4, 2004 after 355 performances.
Broadway revival (2022)[edit]
A Broadway revival opened at the Hayes Theater on April 4, 2022. It was originally scheduled to begin previews on April 2, 2020 and officially open on April 23. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show suspended production on March 12. The cast is made up of Jesse Williams, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Patrick J. Adams, Michael Oberholtzer, Brandon L. Dirden, Carl Lundstedt, Hiram Delgado, Ken Marks, Eduardo Ramos, Tyler Lansing Weaks, and Julian Cihi.[7][8][9] The production is directed by Scott Ellis and has a production team including David Rockwell (scenic), Linda Cho (costumes), Kenneth Posner (lighting), and Fitz Patton (sound). The production began previews on March 10, 2022 and officially opened on April 4. It closed on June 11.[10][11][12][13]
The Broadway revival has a very strict policy regarding phones and requires that all audience members place their phones in locked Yondr pouches prior to the show. However, on May 9, 2022, a video leaked online of a scene of Williams during the shower scene in which he is fully nude. The Actors' Equity Association, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and 2nd Stage, owner the Helen Hayes Theater, released statements sharing their disgust. The latter stated they would be adding additional staff to enforce the "no phones" policy.[14][15]
On June 12, 2022, the Broadway revival won Best Revival of a Play at the 75th Tony Awards.
The revival was remounted at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre and began performances on October 27, 2022 for a limited run of 14 weeks.[16] Due to previous filming engagement, Adams was unable to return and Bill Heck assumed the role of Kippy for the return engagement.
TV series[edit]
In August 2021, it was reported that Anonymous Content would be adapting the play into a limited television series. Jesse Williams will star and Scott Ellis will direct the pilot written by Greenberg.[22]