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.
Ellis places most of the play's gut punches - notably the two act breaks, though the second intermission is omitted - in the capably Expressionist fists of set designer David Rockwell and lighting designer Kenneth Posner. The momentary effects are achieved but curiously seem unearned, out of scale somehow to the human confrontations. More seamless is Mikaal Sulaiman's stellar sound design, layering cheers and gasps so you can't separate the recorded ones from the live. And isn't that how it should be? Ellis and Greenberg evidently share the belief that baseball is the most democratic of pastimes, perhaps even more so than theater, where a commonality of values often reigns. At the stadium, wealthy and strapped, left and right, white-collar and blue- come together in a celebration of teamwork and individual skill, and this play exploring individual identity knows that the group identity of 'fan' unites us. It almost makes a trip to the Helen Hayes a requirement in these polarized times.
The emotional wallop packed by Take Me Out took me by surprise. The last time I engaged with a baseball-centric Broadway tale, watching the Damn Yankees film, I was left watching, well, baseball. But this convincingly-acted, blistering drama more than earns its championship title.
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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