What happens when a young, iconic baseball player calls a press conference that results in his “coming out?” A new hit show on the Great White Way, Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg. A bevy of theater-goers enjoyed an evening of gaiety at the opening night party at The Supper Club. The comic drama about America’s favorite pastime includes a host of good-looking hunks standing around naked for the show’s notorious shower scenes … and not of the Hitchcock variety. (These scenes are used to show the team’s self-consciousness after star player Darren Lemming [Daniel Sunjata] reveals his homosexuality.) The play also stars Neal Huff, Fredrick Weller, and Denis O’Hare–who steals the show. His hilarious character, Mason Marzac, is a money manager who takes on Lemming as a client and falls head-over-heels in love with the game of baseball … and with Lemming.
Those who turned out for the evening’s festivities included Bush senior’s bro Jonathan, who, when asked his opinion on the Mideast crisis, told us, “Saddam is going down. You can bank on it. We’ll be OK. Our President, will get the job done.” Guess he has faith in his nephew in the White House. Let’s just say it’s a family affair. And does he own a bio-chem suit and gas mask? “Absolutely not! We don’t need it!” he responded emphatically. Hmmmm. Is there something you know that you aren’t telling us, Uncle Jon? Later in the evening, The Sheet overheard a racy compliment showered on cast member Gene Gabriel’s, ah-hem, “performance” in the hot (nude) new Broadway show. The fiesty fan commented, “You’re very well hung,” to which Gabriel replied most proudly, “Thank you very much.” “You’re verrrrry welcome,” the fan shot back. Hey–if you got it, flaunt it! And speaking of flaunting, Monica Lewinsky posed for her close-up with her catch of the evening, Robert Jiménez, and Gene “Family Jewels” Gabriel. “Oh, I’ll probably get into trouble for this shot,” winced Lewinsky. Well, guess it’s catch as catch can, Monica!
Overall, the play has a Field of Dreams quality that is powerful in these uncertain times. For those who can move beyond the hot hunks soaping up their private parts, and the issue of homosexuality … whether you’re gay, straight, man, woman, clothed, or nude, the play affords some thought-provoking moments. For those who don’t want to see beyond the surface, it’s about baseball.
