Take Me Out (Broadway)
TAKE ME OUT by Richard Greenberg opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on February 27, 2003 and closed on January 4, 2004 after 28 previews and 355 performances.
Produced by Carole Shorenstein Hays and Frederick DeMann. Originally produced by The Donmar Warehouse (Sam Mendes, Artistic Director) and The Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival (George C. Wolfe: Producer; Mara Manus: Executive Director); Executive Producer: Greg Holland and Pilar De Mann
Directed by Joe Mantello; Scenic Design by Scott Pask; Costume Design by Jess Goldstein; Lighting Design by Kevin Adams; Sound Design by Janet Kalas;
Starring Neal Huff (Kippy Sunderstrom / Feb 04, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004), Denis O’Hare (Mason Marzac / Feb 04, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004), Daniel Sunjata (Darren Lemming / Feb 04, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004), Frederick Weller (Shane Mungitt / Feb 04, 2003 – Nov 02, 2003), Kevin Carroll (Davey Battle / Feb 04, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004), David Eigenberg (Toddy Koovitz / Feb 04, 2003 – Jul 20, 2003), Gene Gabriel (Rodriguez / Feb 03, 2003 – Nov 02, 2003 / Policeman / Feb 03, 2003 – Nov 02, 2003), Robert M. Jiménez (Martinez / Feb 03, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004 / Policeman / Feb 03, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004), Joe Lisi (Skipper / William R. Danziger), Kohl Sudduth (Jason Chenier / Feb 04, 2003 – Jul 13, 2003), James Yaegashi (Takeshi Kawabata / Feb 04, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004)
Understudies: Musashi Alexander (Takeshi Kawabata), Nat De Wolf (Mason Marzac), Michael Duvert (Darren Lemming, Martinez, Policeman, Davey Battle, Rodriguez), Jonno Roberts (Shane Mungitt, Martinez, Policeman, Jason Chenier, Rodriguez), John Schiappa (Skipper, William R. Danziger, Toddy Koovitz) and Paul Sparks (Kippy Sunderstrom, Shane Mungitt, Jason Chenier)
Replacement Cast: Maximillian Alejandro (Rodriguez / Nov 04, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004 / Policeman / Nov 04, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004), Anthony Joseph De Santis (Toddy Koovitz / Jul 22, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004), Shane McRae (Jason Chenier / Jul 15, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004), Don Sparks (Skipper / ? – Jan 04, 2004 / William R. Danziger / ? – Jan 04, 2004), Myk Watford (Shane Mungitt / Nov 04, 2003 – Jan 04, 2004)
Associate Director: Trip Cullman; Associate Scenic Design: Orit Carroll and Tobin Ost; Assistant Costume Design: Michael McDonald; Associate Lighting Design: Yael Lubetzky; Assistant Sound Design: Michael Creason and Assistant to Stuart Thompson: Caroline Prugh.
General Manager: Stuart Thompson Productions and James Triner; Company Manager: Shawn M. Fertitta;
Production Stage Manager: William Joseph Barnes; Production Manager: Gene O’Donovan; Stage Manager: C.A. Clark; Production Management: Aurora Productions
Casting: Jordan Thaler and Heidi Griffiths, C.S.A.; General Press Representative: Boneau / Bryan-Brown; Marketing: TMG – The Marketing Group and Keith Hurd; Online Marketing by Toby Simkin; Advertising: Serino Coyne, Inc.; Photographer: Joan Marcus; Press Associate: Amy Jacobs and Juliana Hannett
Take Me Out was originally staged by Donmar Warehouse, London, with The Public Theater. It premiered off-Broadway on September 5, 2002, at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, where it ran until it transferred to the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway where I joined to handle online marketing.
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.
Much of the play is set in the locker room of a professional baseball team, and as such has an all-male cast that explores themes of homophobia, racism, class and masculinity in sports. The play’s main character, Darren Lemming, is a popular and successful mixed-race baseball player at the peak of his career when he decides to come out. Several of his teammates react strongly (some supportive and accepting, and some not), and the drama plays out over the course of a baseball season with tragic consequences.
