‘TAKE ME OUT’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

TAKE ME OUT
Written by Richard Greenberg
Directed by Scott Ellis
Through May 29, 2022
The Hayes Theater
240 West 44th Street
(212-541-4516), www 2ST.com

By David NouNou

Take Me Out is a show that is enjoyable while watching, but mind-blowing long after leaving the theater and pondering the different subject matters it tackles. I admired the show in 2002 more as a voyeur and missed out on the multiple layers upon which it is built. The central subject matter is the coming out of a beloved baseball player, who is at the top of his game, to the media, unbeknownst to his fellow teammates and without any cause or a personal relationship. Although it might have seemed a breakthrough for a major league athlete to come out as gay in 2002, just think where we are in 2022 and the alarming “Don’t Say Gay” Florida law that was just signed, banning the word “gay,” and other states trying to undo same-sex marriages. It is mind-numbing to see how far we are regressing, which in turn makes Take Me Out more progressive and relevant today.

The catalyst, Darren Lemming (Jesse Williams), a biracial center fielder for the fictional Major League team the Empires, beloved by the public as well as himself, has just announced he is gay for no apparent reason other than to free himself of the secret he’s carried on a daily basis. Now that his sexual orientation is in the open, he must navigate through life with the slings and arrows that are hurled upon him. Everything now comes under scrutiny—from an ordinary shower after a game to dealing with his teammates on a daily basis. He has the support of his teammate and friend Kippy Sunderstrom (Patrick J. Adams), who is also the narrator of the play. However, his best friend Davey Battle (Brandon J. Dirden) who plays on an opposing team, The Larks, is a holy man and revolted by what he considers Lemming’s “deviation” and “depravity.” This is the proverbial line in the sand that has been crossed.

Later, Darren Lemming also acquires a new accountant, Mason Marzac (Jesse Tyler Ferguson). The last one we are to believe has retired. Marzac knows nothing about baseball, but is enthralled that Darren has come out and has new interest in the game. Marzac has learned “that baseball is absolute. It works better than democracy. It has a definite winner and a loser.” Here is another layer for us to peel: in a democracy who wins an election and who loses?

Due to Lemming being in a slump and losses piling up, a dimwitted, racist, homophobic relief pitcher, Shane Mungitt (Michael Oberholtzer), is brought in from the minor leagues. He happens to be an orphan due to his father killing his mother and then killing himself, and is either from Arkansas or Tennessee. Now that the team begins winning, Mungitt is wanted for a press interview where he expresses his displeasure with “colored” people and having to shower with a “fa**ot.” This places Mungitt on suspension.

Due to the suspension, the team goes into a slump again. An apology letter is written and released to the public. Public sentiment wants Mungitt back, against Lemming’s feelings. With Mungitt back, this creates new revelations and consequences that will affect the lives of many. Please unravel the revelations and consequences for yourself, it will be more fulfilling. So many things come into question here, and I’m sure each viewer will have their own interpretation

Although this looks like an ensemble piece, there are four standout remarkable performances; Jesse Williams is an Adonis with a command of the stage that is riveting. His every stance, move and interaction is poetry in motion. Patrick J. Adams as friend and narrator anchors the play in his sincerity. Michael Oberholtzer as the outsider can he heartbreaking once you realize he will always be a failure in life and will always get himself in trouble.

The joker in the deck is Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Marzac, a role that won Denis O’Hare a much-deserved Tony Award in a supporting role. Where Mr. O’Hare was an introverted, nebbish “Mr. Cellophane” who blossomed while loving baseball, Mr. Ferguson is never a milquetoast but a lonely, self-deprecating accountant who falls in love with baseball once he meets Darren Lemming. As his friendship with Darren evolves, so does his flamboyance, giving the show its much needed levity.

My sincere hope is that Take Me Out will be extended beyond May 29th. With so many tourists coming to New York this spring and summer, this would be the one solid play I would recommend people to see. Its poignancy is harder hitting today than it was in 2002.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 7, 2022
Reviewed at April 6, 2022 press performance.

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Jesse Tyler Ferguson & Jesse Williams. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Jesse Williams & Brandon J. Dirden. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Michael Oberholtzer & cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Jesse Williams & Ken Marks. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Patrick J. Adams & Jesse Williams. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TAKE ME OUT’: Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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LIKE ‘AVENUE Q’ ON STEROIDS (left to right) Geneva Carr, Sarah Stiles, Mark Kudisch, Steven Boyer & Michael Oberholtzer. Photo: Joan Marcus

HAND TO GOD
By Robert Askins
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212) 239-6200
http://handtogodbroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

This is that rare show that changes and challenges the foundations of traditional theater, the way Samuel Beckett did in the 1950s with Waiting for Godot and Edward Albee did in the 1960s with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Equal parts dark comedy, absurdist drama and horror/gore show, Hand to God is both funny and frightening, has the irreverence of The Book of Mormon, and the gross-out ick factor of every John Waters film, but playwright Robert Askins’ tale is highly original as well. At times scathingly hilarious but ultimately disturbing, this tragicomic masterpiece takes digs at everything from Christianity and teenage angst to taboo sex. It is unlike anything you’ve ever seen on the New York stage in years.

Hand to God has transferred to Broadway after two successful downtown productions. Although lead actor Steven Boyer isn’t yet a big name in theater, he will be soon for his tour de force portrayal of Jason, a troubled teenager who brings out his inner demons through Tyrone, the hand puppet he plays with at a Texas church in a Christian puppet class run by his mother, Margery (the outstanding Geneva Carr).

Margery is still grieving the loss of her husband just six months earlier as she attempts to rehearse for an upcoming church puppet performance with Jason, smart-mouthed bully Timothy (Michael Oberholtzer) and quick-witted Jessica (Sarah Stiles).

Meanwhile, Pastor Greg (Marc Kudisch) has romantic feelings for Margery, but she’s too grief-stricken from her husband’s death to even feign interest in the guy. Margery is also indulging in some stomach-churning, inappropriate behavior with hormone-addled Timothy (don’t ask). To make things worse, Jason’s going overboard playing with his puppet Tyrone, shouting out so many potty-mouthed witticisms and acting out violence and perverse sex acts that it seems Tyrone has literally possessed the poor kid.

Hand to God questions many of the foundations of mainstream Christianity and morality as the characters take us on a nonstop ride of four-letter words, jabs at the Bible and social mores as we see puppets and humans in various acts of sex and violence. Although act one is full of belly laughs, by act two the show builds to an uncomfortable climax that makes us realize Hand to God is more of a modern-day Greek tragedy than an edgier, filthier Avenue Q. Like many Greek heroes and heroines in Euripides and Sophocles’ classics, Jason and mom Margery commit despicable crimes of passion and must face the consequences.

Director Moritz von Stuelpnagel keeps the exceptional cast moving at a steady pace, in a show that is so full of energy, fake spewing blood and searing physicality that it has to be exhausting for the actors. However, as first-rate as Robert Askins’ play is, the raison d’être of the show is also Steven Boyer’s mind-blowing portrayal of Jason and Tyrone, in what is certainly the must-see performance of the spring season, making him a frontrunner for the Tony Award.

JASON & TYRONE: Steven Boyer in ‘Hand to God.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

JASON & HIS CRUSH, JESSICA: Steven Boyer & Sarah Stiles. Photo: Joan Marcus

MARGERY & PASTOR GREG: Geneva Karr & Mark Kudisch. Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 10, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on April 9, 2015

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