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Take Me Out
Take Me Out is the fictional story of a major league baseball player coming out as gay, and the repercussions of that. It first premiered 20 years ago, and I saw that production with my mom. When a new Broadway production was announced, she got us tickets.
The show is very much a black comedy in the vein of something like Heathers, though this production seemed more witty than I remembered--the "comedy" part was more emphasized, especially for the first half. I think they played the laughs more, but I also think the cast was stronger.
Also, I think there was even more nudity than I remembered. There are multiple locker room and shower scenes and there’s no effort to even angle the dicks away from the audience, You see a lot of dong in this. (Though the extremely fit, extremely waxed 20-something men starring in this have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.) The theater had a policy where you have to lock your cell phone into a bag for the duration of the show (you kept the bag and the ushers unlocked them as everyone left), and after seeing the show again I’m not surprised by that.
I suspect that the fact I understand my sexuality a lot more than I did 20 years ago let me enjoy this more. Though it also reminded me that though I’m steeped in queer culture, I’m not a part of and don’t fully understand gay culture, which is lumped together (and more well-understood by popular media) but distinctly different.
It’s sad that this show remains as relevant today as 20 years ago. (The program now it takes place during the 2002 baseball season. I think that was "next year" during the original run.) When I first heard about the revival, I thought there must have been a gay ball player in the interim…but no. There’s never been an out player in major league baseball.
(Unfortunately, my mom broke her knee and couldn’t come see the show, but I got an old friend who I also hadn’t seen in two decades to come join me and we had a great time. “Blast from the past” all around.)
Overall: Definitely a solid production of a good show (though I’d argue that the message gets muddy in the darker second half), but sad it’ still as relevant as it is. Hopefully the next revival in 20 years will feel much more like a quaint anachronism.
The show is very much a black comedy in the vein of something like Heathers, though this production seemed more witty than I remembered--the "comedy" part was more emphasized, especially for the first half. I think they played the laughs more, but I also think the cast was stronger.
Also, I think there was even more nudity than I remembered. There are multiple locker room and shower scenes and there’s no effort to even angle the dicks away from the audience, You see a lot of dong in this. (Though the extremely fit, extremely waxed 20-something men starring in this have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.) The theater had a policy where you have to lock your cell phone into a bag for the duration of the show (you kept the bag and the ushers unlocked them as everyone left), and after seeing the show again I’m not surprised by that.
I suspect that the fact I understand my sexuality a lot more than I did 20 years ago let me enjoy this more. Though it also reminded me that though I’m steeped in queer culture, I’m not a part of and don’t fully understand gay culture, which is lumped together (and more well-understood by popular media) but distinctly different.
It’s sad that this show remains as relevant today as 20 years ago. (The program now it takes place during the 2002 baseball season. I think that was "next year" during the original run.) When I first heard about the revival, I thought there must have been a gay ball player in the interim…but no. There’s never been an out player in major league baseball.
(Unfortunately, my mom broke her knee and couldn’t come see the show, but I got an old friend who I also hadn’t seen in two decades to come join me and we had a great time. “Blast from the past” all around.)
Overall: Definitely a solid production of a good show (though I’d argue that the message gets muddy in the darker second half), but sad it’ still as relevant as it is. Hopefully the next revival in 20 years will feel much more like a quaint anachronism.
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