A grand slam on Broadway: ‘Take Me Out’

Photo courtesy of New York Theatre Guide

The Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a Play is Broadway’s newest hit, “Take Me Out.” It delves into all the ways one can be “taken out” by telling the fictional story of Darren Lemming (Jesse Williams) coming out to his baseball team. With an all-star team for a cast, this revival draws theater lovers and avid baseball fans into the Gerald Schoenfeld Stadium, home of the MLB team, the Empires, in 2002. 

Jesse Williams gives an outstanding performance, portraying all the complexities of the fictional baseball legend Darren Lemming, but the show would be nothing without the performances of the supporting characters Kippy Sunderstrom (Bill Heck) and Mason Marzac (Jesse Tyler Ferguson). Heck’s character is the primary narrator of “Take Me Out” and peacemaker amongst the Empires as conflict after conflict arise between Williams and every other player. Heck and Ferguson give exceptionally empathetic performances and provide comedic relief during the darker and more intense parts of the play with quick witted remarks. 

One of the greatest moments in the play is Ferguson’s monologue in which Marzac discovers the joys, sorrows and eccentricities of baseball and finds, in his understanding of the sport, an immense passion and appreciation of its beauty. 

The monologue analyzes the sport of baseball from an outsiders perspective, which uncovers a vast appreciation of its symmetry, its metaphorical nature and highlights it as a perfect example of equality, proving it to be better than democracy – and how it is practiced here. 

After Lemming comes out to the Empires, pitcher Shane Mungitt (Michael Oberholtzer) is introduced to the team, coming from an “A-ball Bumfuck” farm team as Mungitt gets reminded quite frequently in the show. Mungitt’s character doesn’t talk much overall, but gives an emotionally impactful performance, especially towards the shows conclusion . 

Throughout the show, Mungitt serves his role as an easy scapegoat for the Empires’ issues, culminating with his arrest for throwing a deadly pitch. At this pinnacle of the show, Oberholtzer gives an incredible performance while discovering all the prior causal events leading up to the throw of that fatal pitch.

The creative genius written by the playwright Richard Greenberg is outstanding. “Take Me Out” examines all the various connotations of the phrase “take me out.” Darren Lemming comes out to his team, “Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd ...” is a classic baseball song and Mungitt’s erratic pitching takes the batter out, both literally and figuratively. 

One application of the phrase “take me out” that Greenberg may not have intended for the show was the inclusion of full-frontal nudity in multiple clubhouse shower scenes throughout the two-act show.

“The play’s nudity is about perceived masculinity and what it means to be in touch with your manhood in a way that is either restricted and restrained or free and expressive,” Heck said in an interview with Theater Mania. 

While the stark nudity is included per Heck’s point and does replicate what showering in a baseball clubhouse is really like for players around the world, it can take audience members out of the moment, leaving them more focused on specific characters’ anatomy than the crucial dialogue taking place in the showers.

The 2022 revival of “Take Me Out” truly is a grand slam performance that baseball fans and regular theatergoers should experience. Even lovers of other sports can relate and could gain a great appreciation for both the sport of baseball and for stories in male dominated sports that aren’t too common, like athletes coming out. “Take Me Out” can be seen at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre now through Feb. 5, 2023.