When Jesse Williams stepped onto the stage for his Broadway debut, the buzz wasn't just about his transition from the scrub-wearing Jackson Avery of Grey's Anatomy to the pinstriped superstar of the New York Empires. It was a gamble. Taking on a revival of Richard Greenberg’s Tony-winning play, Take Me Out, meant stepping into a role—Darren Lemming—that demands total emotional and physical transparency. Literally.
The play is a sharp, often heartbreaking look at what happens when a biracial baseball icon at the peak of his career decides to come out of the closet. Williams didn't just play the role; he inhabited the cool, almost godly detachment of a man who thinks his talent makes him invincible. And then, he let the audience watch that invincibility crumble.
The Complicated Success of Jesse Williams in Take Me Out
Most people expected a celebrity cameo. They got a Tony-nominated performance. Jesse Williams in Take Me Out proved that he wasn't just a TV face looking for a prestige badge. He earned a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play, standing toe-to-toe with stage veterans like Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
The production itself was a massive hit for Second Stage Theater, first opening at the Helen Hayes Theater in early 2022 before returning for a second run at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre due to sheer demand. It eventually took home the Tony for Best Revival of a Play.
The story follows Darren Lemming, a man who believes that because he is young, rich, and famous, the world will simply accept his truth. He is wrong. His teammates react with a mix of awkwardness, confusion, and—in the case of the volatile relief pitcher Shane Mungitt—violent bigotry. It’s a dense play. It talks about how we use sports as a metaphor for democracy while the people playing the game are often denied the basic dignity of being themselves.
That Locker Room Controversy
You can't talk about this production without addressing the elephant in the room. Or rather, the camera in the theater. Take Me Out features several scenes in the team locker room, including full-frontal shower scenes. The theater used Yondr pouches—those grey neoprene bags that lock your phone away—to ensure the actors' privacy.
Someone cheated.
A video of Williams in the shower was leaked online in May 2022. It went viral instantly. Honestly, the reaction from the theater community was a mix of fury and heartbreak. Jesse Tyler Ferguson called it "appalling." Actors' Equity slammed it as a "breach of consent."
Williams, for his part, handled it with a kind of legendary grace. He told the Associated Press he wasn't "down about it" and that his job was to go out there every night regardless. But the incident sparked a massive conversation about the "sacred space" of the theater and how the digital age is eroding the trust between performer and audience.
Why the Story Still Hits Hard in 2026
It’s been over twenty years since Greenberg wrote the play, yet the central premise—a major league baseball player coming out while active—remains a rarity in real life. Williams brought a specific nuance to Darren. He played him not as a victim, but as someone who is deeply, almost arrogantly, lonely.
The chemistry between Williams and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (who played his business manager, Mason Marzac) was the heartbeat of the show. Mason is a guy who hates sports until he meets Darren and realizes that baseball is "the perfect metaphor for hope." Their friendship provides the light in a play that otherwise dives into some pretty dark corners of the American psyche.
The supporting cast was equally stellar:
- Patrick J. Adams (and later Bill Heck) as Kippy, the team's "intellectual" shortstop and the play's narrator.
- Michael Oberholtzer as the tragic, hateful Shane Mungitt.
- Brandon J. Dirden as Davey Battle, Darren's best friend on a rival team whose religious convictions create a devastating rift.
The Logistics of the Broadway Runs
If you’re looking back at the timeline, the first run started previews on March 10, 2022, and officially opened on April 4. It was supposed to be a limited engagement, but the critical acclaim was so loud they brought it back in October 2022 for another 14-week stint that ended in February 2023.
It wasn't just a "nude play." It was a masterclass in staging by director Scott Ellis. He managed to make a stage feel like a stadium, a locker room, and a lonely apartment all at once.
Lessons from the Empires' Locker Room
What can we actually take away from the Jesse Williams Take Me Out era?
First, the "celebrity on Broadway" experiment works best when the actor is willing to be vulnerable. Williams didn't hide behind his Grey’s fame; he stripped it away. Literally and metaphorically.
Second, the Yondr pouch isn't a perfect shield, but it's a necessary boundary. If you’re heading to a show with sensitive content today, respect the rules. The "mutual understanding" between actor and audience is what makes live performance different from Netflix. When that’s broken, everyone loses.
Finally, the play reminds us that "coming out" isn't a single event—it's a continuous process of navigating people's projections. Darren Lemming thought he could control the narrative because he was the best at the game. He learned that the game is bigger than the player.
How to Explore This Era Further
If you missed the live performance, you can't exactly "stream" the Broadway production (legally), but the script by Richard Greenberg is a phenomenal read. It's rhythmic, witty, and surprisingly poetic.
- Read the Script: Look for the 2003 or 2022 editions of Take Me Out. Pay attention to Mason Marzac’s monologues about the soul of baseball.
- Watch the Interviews: Jesse Williams did a fantastic episode of Watch What Happens Live and several Playbill interviews where he discusses the mental preparation for the role.
- Support Second Stage: This theater company consistently takes risks on revivals that challenge the status quo. Keeping an eye on their upcoming seasons is the best way to catch the next "Jesse Williams moment" before it becomes a headline.
Broadway is a place for bravery. Williams showed plenty of it, and in doing so, he gave us one of the most memorable revivals of the decade.