‘Good Night, Oscar’ review: Sean Hayes stars in off-key Broadway play
nypost.comGood Night, Oscar,” there is no doubt. Whether the end result is a human being or a bag of tricks depends on your taste for ham.One hour and 40 minutes with no intermission.
At the Belasco Theatre, 111 W. 44th St.In Doug Wright’s mostly unsatisfying dramedy, which opened Monday night on Broadway, the “Will & Grace” star takes on the role of Oscar Levant, the virtuoso piano player, “An American in Paris” actor and humorist who became popular — and controversial — during the early days of TV.
A wittier precursor to the likes of Harvey Pekar on “Late Night With David Letterman,” Levant, who died in 1972, would appear on “Tonight Starring Jack Paar” and make unpredictable cracks about his pill addiction, Hitler and plenty of other not family- or network-friendly topics before brilliantly tickling the ivories.New York columnist Dorothy Kilgallen once said of Levant, “I think he’s said more funny things than any man of our time.” That’s a bold statement to make about a fella who most people today don’t remember.
But Levant was, indeed, devilishly hilarious and whip smart. And so, Wright’s play is littered with so many punchlines they could be the main character’s first language.What’s odd however is that, despite Levant’s insistence in the play that “I don’t write jokes in advance, I’m extempore,” the zingers come across animatronic and limp as delivered by Hayes.You expect to laugh so much more than you do.
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