The must see Tony Award-winning smash of the Summer opens to rave reviews –
Good Night, Oscar is now playing at the Barbican until 21 September.
Don’t miss your chance to see Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor, musician and writer Sean Hayes give a “mesmerising, once-in-a-generation performance” as the legendary Oscar Levant – American concert pianist, Hollywood icon, and the most unpredictable guest in late-night television history. Joining him is Olivier Award nominee Rosalie Craig (Company), alongside a cast of some of London’s finest stage talent, in this “blisteringly funny, razor-sharp and deeply moving” hit play by Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright.
It’s 1958. The golden age of live television. Jack Paar rules America’s late-night airwaves and tonight, his favourite guest is back: Oscar Levant. Brilliant, unfiltered, and entirely unpredictable, Oscar is must-see TV. There’s just one problem: he’s been locked in a mental health institution, and the network doesn’t know. As showtime looms and millions prepare to tune in, Jack faces a career-defining choice for them both: cancel the booking…or risk it all for a moment of television history and ratings gold.
Good Night, Oscar is a magnetic portrait of genius, ego and the unbearable tension between public brilliance and private chaos. Razer sharp, stylish, and unexpectedly moving it asks: how do we protect the people we love and when do we let them walk the wire?
From Chicago to Broadway to London, Good Night, Oscar has become the most talked-about play of the year and now it’s lighting up the Barbican stage. At its centre is Sean Hayes, delivering a performance of magnetic force, including his full virtuosic live performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. It’s a symphony of chaos and charisma: the story of a man who could electrify an audience, unsettle a host, and unravel in real time…all before the next commercial break.
Elegant, explosive and unmissable. Must end 21 September.