Jesse Williams, currently starring in Take Me Out on Broadway, stopped by Late Night With Seth Meyers to chat about his performance in the Second Stage revival, currently running at the Hayes Theater.
Williams, who along with much of the cast appears fully nude in the production, talked about the audience reaction to seeing the cast in the buff. Apparently, they mostly seem to keep it together.
"It's so intense and the language is so dense that as soon as naked people come out, everybody gets quiet," Williams tells Meyers. "You can hear a pin drop—or something else drop."
Williams goes on to share that the nude scenes haven't avoided all audience pearl clutching. "Every now and then there's some shrieks or gasps, or people scurrying out. The light of the exit door cascades up there." Watch Williams' complete appearance above.
Directed by Scott Ellis, the Broadway revival of Richard Greenberg's 2003 Tony-winning play began previews March 10 and officially opened April 4 at the Hayes. The run is currently scheduled to continue through May 29.
Williams stars as baseball star Darren Lemming, center fielder for the Empires, who comes out of the closet, revealing a tradition of long-held unspoken prejudices off the field. As the Empires struggle to rally toward a championship season, the players and their fans begin to question the old ways, their loyalties, and the price of victory.
Co-starring with Williams are Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Patrick J. Adams, Julian Cihi, Hiram Delgado, Brandon J. Dirden, Carl Lundstedt, Ken Marks, Michael Oberholtzer, Eduardo Ramos, and Tyler Lansing Weaks. The company is rounded out by understudies Ryan Broussard, Michael Castillejos, Lance Takeshi, Stephen Wattrus, and Tim Wright.
The production, which features full-frontal nudity, requires use of Yondr pouches, into which audience members' phones are placed and locked for the duration of the performance, all while still in guests' own possession. The pouches are then unlocked and collected by staff at the end of the show. Yondr pouches have been seen on Broadway previously during the original run of Freestyle Love Supreme. For more information, visit OverYondr.com.
Ellis and Williams will reportedly continue their work with the piece as it is adapted as a TV mini-series expected to premiere later this year.
