Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Two decades onward, Richard Greenberg’s Tony-winning TAKE ME OUT returns to Broadway in a punchy revival courtesy of Second Stage

• By drediman
• April 5, 2022
• No Comments

Last night at the Hayes Theater, Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out returned to the Great White Way just about two decades since its original Tony-winning run (has it really been that long?). The production comes by way of Second Stage Theater, which has enlisted veteran director Scott Ellis to helm the piece. Mr. Greenberg’s play tells the story of Darren Lemming, a superstar center fielder for a fictitious major league baseball team who – out of the blue – comes out of the closet, upending his team’s dynamics and his personal life.

Happily, the play has held up well, mainly because of the charged, multifarious nature of the writing. Indeed, in Take Me Out, Mr. Greenberg – an intellectually astute playwright who never talks down to his audiences – has written a play full of elegantly-wrought juxtapositions that appeals to a broad range of theatergoers. Fans of baseball will be invigorated by what in many ways is an effusive love letter to the sport. As a study in masculinity vis-à-vis sexuality (and vice versa), the work remains keenly observant of the complicated ways homosexuality can still manifest itself in our society. And then of course there are the play’s notorious locker room and shower scenes, which will no doubt attract fans of a different sort. Additionally, perspectives constantly shift in “Rashomon”-like fashion, keeping audiences (and the actors) on their toes, both intellectually and emotionally.

The staging by Mr. Ellis (who has historically directed for Roundabout) is as razor sharp as the play deserves. Equally focused and theatrically adroit is David Rockwell’s set design, which handles the play’s quick scene changes with efficiency and an exciting sense of forward momentum. As Darren, Jesse Williams magnetically captures the character’s cocky, blasé attitude and seductively elusive persona. As Darren’s verbose, socially inept business manager who falls in love with the game, Jesse Tyler Ferguson is comic perfection, providing a refreshing and amusing counterpoint to Williams’ somber performance. The rest of the cast in what is essentially an ensemble piece is excellent; they’re fully convincing as professional baseball players, and their heightened yet remarkably accurate portrayals of over-compensating masculinity hold a mirror to society.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

TAKE ME OUT
Broadway, Play
Second Stage Theater at the Hayes Theater
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Through May 29