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“Goodnight, Oscar” at the Barbican Theatre

There’s a danger of damning Doug Wright’s Broadway hit with faint praise. The writing is sound, the direction from Lisa Peterson solid. There are plenty of interesting themes surrounding the story of a virtuoso pianist suffering from poor mental health that make the show an excellent vehicle for its star, Sean Hayes, who is aided by a strong supporting cast. It looks good, too, with the 1950s setting made stylish in Rachel Hauck’s set and Emilio Sosa’s costumes. There’s next to nothing to complain about.

Oscar Levant, billed as one of the 20th century’s greatest wits, followed his successful musical career as a TV personality who was infamous for his openness about his health. The play pairs him with Jack Paar, said to have invented late-night television with Tonight, and imagines one episode with Levant sneaking out of a mental hospital to appear on the show. It’s a good story that Wright gets a lot out of, and Peterson paces the script superbly.

The blend of comedy and tragedy is handled well. Levant is funny, but his condition is a concern. Blessed (or should that be cursed?) with prodigious self-awareness, he needs to perform. Fascinated TV executives and viewers both condemn and exploit him. 

The role’s attraction for Hayes is clear, and he is, indeed, a revelation. That’s not so hard, since most Londoners will only know him as Jack from early Noughties sitcom Will & Grace. But he gets a standing ovation presenting a very different and complex man. Strong support from Rosalie Craig as his wife helps, despite her role, like too many others, being underwritten. Craig is excellent at showing a cool compassion that carries the action. Yet Hayes can’t help but steal the show. Yes, he is good with the comedy, but he is moving as well, managing to make us feel for Levant without patronising him. The piano playing is especially impressive and a great theatrical moment. Not only does Hayes give a great rendition of Rhapsody in Blue, but he acts while he is doing it.

Given Levant’s tortured relationship with Gershwin, who appears as an hallucination (performed by David Burnett), the influence of Peter Schaffer’s masterpiece is clear. But this is Amadeus with addiction issues, an addition that is interesting and convincing.

Another side of the story, Levant’s involvement with TV, might present more of a struggle for a home crowd. The late-night chat show isn’t as much of an institution here. While Ben Rappaport gives a layered performance as Paar, the excellent Richard Katz doesn’t have enough to do as a TV executive and Eric Sirakian’s role as a show runner is a weak comic foil. But even here, Peterson manages to convey the bustle of live TV, while questions around the nature of celebrity are clear and thought-provoking. If the play isn’t particularly adventurous, it is admirably thorough and conscientious. There really is a lot to praise.

Until 21 September 2025

www.goodnightoscar.com

Photos by Johan Persson

2016

“Grey Gardens” at the Southwark Playhouse

There are two five-star performances in this European première of Scott Frankel’s brave musical. Taking the roles of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter ‘Little Edie’ – socialites who descend into far from genteel poverty – are Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell. The latter takes both parts, playing mother at the play’s start in 1941, and then daughter when the action leaps into the 1970s. Full marks in both instances – I’m losing count of how many stars Russell deserves.

Notable as the first musical to be based on a documentary film, the book by Doug Wright and bold lyrics from Michael Korie get a lot from this true story of privilege and mental instability. Grey Gardens is a nuanced look at a bizarre filial relationship that broadens beautifully as it questions frustrations about art, age and class. If there are reservations, there’s a feeling it helps to know the original film, although director Thom Southerland’s characteristically ambitious staging makes this a satisfying theatrical evening.

On the day of Little Evie’s engagement (with a young Jacqueline Bouvier lined up to be a bridesmaid), family eccentricities make eligible bachelor, one Joseph Kennedy, run away. Both mother and daughter (played in these scenes by one-to-watch Rachel Anne Rayham) have a “yen for the spotlight” and fancy themselves as performers. Frankel’s eclectic score gives them plenty of opportunity. Adding to frivolity is the live-in pianist, an “imported” black sheep, tackled stylishly by Jeremy Legat, and disapproving patriarch, Major Bouvier, impeccably performed by Billy Boyle.
Grey Gardens 2 Jenna Russell Photo Scott RylanderThere’s tragedy in the air even with a lot of 1940s fun, And the nostalgia has bite as the Bouvier Beales become trapped in past. The start of Act Two is one of the funniest things you’ll see: with Little Edie preparing to do battle with neighbours unhappy with the state of the house, now described as a 28-room litter box for their out-of-control cats and condemned as unfit for human habitation.Russell is in total control of the audience’s funny bones – it’s a camp treat with a New England drawl that brings tears to the eyes.
Grey Gardens 8 Sheila Hancock Photo Scott Rylander
As the insanity grows, Hancock gets a song about corn – yes, corn on the cob – and it’s clear this odd couple is in real trouble. Hancock’s ability to deliver cruel remarks gets the laughs, but care is taken to show the pain of these reclusive, paranoid lives. It’s a brave musical that carries such dour overtones but I don’t think either Edie would want our pity. These “staunch” women see character as a question of turning any scandal into triumph. Which is close to what the musical itself achieves, with its celebration of the individual and its characters’(admittedly unfulfilled) artistic aspirations. The Bouvier Beales finally get the applause they craved.

Until 6 February 2016

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photos by Scott Rylander