Suits star Patrick J. Adams just made his Broadway debut in the revival of Take Me Out, the story of a gay professional baseball player coming out and the homophobia and racism he experiences. Much of the play is set in a locker room and for most of the play, Adams appears fully naked. Talk about having some stage fright!
Related: Pro baseball player Bryan Ruby comes out as gay
The Canadian actor, 40, sat down with Huff Post ahead of his Broadway debut to discuss everything from those naked shower scenes to the timeliness of this revival considering today’s political climate. On how the cast, including former Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams and Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson, tackled the full frontal nudity, Adam’s had this to say,
“In rehearsals, we’d get to the shower scene and do it clothed. Then we did it in our underwear. We always focused on what we were there to say. Once the water was the right temperature and all of that, we were like: ‘OK, we’re going to be naked today.’ It felt like a natural progression.”
The Right Stuff actor almost didn’t take the part after experiencing panic attacks during the run of The Last Match in California in 2016,
“My initial instinct was that I couldn’t go from being the guy who was having panic attacks onstage to doing a naked play on Broadway. I thought: ‘That’s not going to work. I can’t do that. That’s too far.’”
From the stellar reviews, Adams is receiving for playing the part of Kippy Sunderstorm, the friend of Darren Lemming (Williams), who comes out as gay, [and is also the only biracial player on team], you would never guess stage fright was an issue. It was the script that sealed the deal for Adams,
“And then I read the script, and I knew instantly I had to do it. The play was too beautiful to deny, the opportunity was too great, and this group of people was too fantastic. I knew if I said no to this, I was saying no to theater for the rest of my life. It felt like an opportunity to heal a big wound.”
Married since 2016 to Pretty Little Liars star Troian Bellisario, the Clara actor feels the play brilliantly illustrates what we as a society still need to accomplish,
“We live in a world where more and more people are talking ― everybody’s talking ― but we still have a really tough time coming to an agreement about anything that’s difficult,” he said. “Great writers write to humanity. They write to who we are, and for better or for worse, that doesn’t change as much as we’d like it to. Over time, the play reveals to us how much work we have left to do. We’ve come a long way, but there’s still so much work left.”
Mark, 51, an educator who lives in Jersey City recently saw the revival and had this to say about Adam’s performance,
“He did an outstanding job as the stories narrator taking the audience along for the ride. And the gratuitous nudity was a bonus for all.”
A Tony award-winning play with an all-male cast, and nudity? Sign us up! Take Me Out is currently playing at the Helen Hayes Theater.
There’s apparently so much nudity in this Broadway show Take Me Out, which is a book I read decades ago about two members of a professional baseball team, that they take ya phone and return it to you after the show.
Tickets. Purchased. pic.twitter.com/XzkUI51AJ8
— Lentement mais surement, on réussit 🐢 (@HarlemJ11) April 25, 2022
This year I shall finally begin following baseball (special thanks to the Broadway revival of Take Me Out and its full frontal male nudity) pic.twitter.com/F4Cty9uZ16
— Caleb Self (@CalebSelf) April 4, 2022
Take Me Out took me out. Way more than I expected. Very deep, at times very dark. Other times absolutely hysterical. Not what I expected. There was, of course, lots of nudity. But the show is so much bigger than that – pun intended (in some cases). @2STNYC pic.twitter.com/BQOxVZ2wMM
— It’s the letter J. 🏳️🌈 (@jmason1222) March 19, 2022
Guys nearly the ENTIRE cast of Take Me Out on Broadway is fully nude on stage. We were not expecting THAT much nudity when we started working for the show, but damn it was a fantastic show.
— Taylor (@LikeAnAvalance) March 14, 2022
Sources: Huff Post
Saw an incredible production of this in Chicago many years ago. While the shower scene will be the primary reason a good number of theatre-goers attend this show, many audience members will be somewhat surprised to discover the fact that, like every member of the LGBTQIA+ community, there’s much more to it than just sex. And as a tech person: kudos to ANY technical director/crew that can successfully pull off a fully operational shower set because generally speaking, large quantities of water and high voltage lighting/electricity don’t mix well.
I’ve heard great things about this gay play, one day soon I will go see it.
Saw the original and felt the script deserved a Pulitzer. Good choice. Wish I could travel back from Illinois to see again. Bravo