The must-see Tony Award-winning smash of the Summer lit up the Barbican stage to rave reviews, concluding its London run on Sunday 21 September.
Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor, musician and writer Sean Hayes delivered 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. He was joined by Olivier Award nominee Rosalie Craig (Company), alongside a cast of some of London’s finest stage talent, in Doug Wright’s “blisteringly funny, razor-sharp and deeply moving” hit play.
Set in 1958, the golden age of live television, the play reimagined the night Oscar Levant returned to Jack Paar’s show after being locked in a mental health institution. Brilliant, unfiltered, and entirely unpredictable, Oscar became must-see TV, while Jack faced a career-defining choice: cancel the booking or risk it all for a moment of television history and ratings gold.
Good Night, Oscar was a magnetic portrait of genius, ego and the unbearable tension between public brilliance and private chaos. Razor sharp, stylish and unexpectedly moving, it asked: 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 became one of the most talked-about plays of the year. At its centre was Sean Hayes, giving a performance of magnetic force, including his full virtuosic live performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. It was 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.