Good Night, Oscar

B

As a fan of both Oscar Levant and Sean Hayes (Promises, Promises; “Will & Grace”), I was excited by the opportunity to see the latter portray the former on a Broadway stage. Hayes has been developing the project for almost a decade and, after a false start with another playwright, chose Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife, Grey Gardens) to do the script. The result is a cleverly crafted showcase for dramatic and pianistic talents that Hayes has not had a previous opportunity to display. The emotionally unstable Levant was a frequent guest on Jack Paar’s show because Paar (Ben Rappaport, Fiddler on the Roof) thought his unpredictability was good for ratings. He did appear on Paar’s LA debut show, but not, as the play posits, after being sprung under false pretenses for a four-hour pass from a mental institution by his wife June (Emily Bergl, The Ferryman). Until the telecast begins, we must get through lots and lots of exposition supplied by Paar, June, NBC head Bob Sarnoff (Peter Grosz, A Kid Like Jake), a star-struck aide Max (Alex Wyse, Waitress) who just happens to be Sarnoff’s nephew and Alvin (Marchant Davis, Ain’t No Mo’), the orderly who is tasked to keep an eye on Levant during his brief leave. We also get two rather awkward appearances by George Gershwin (a dapper John Zdrojeski, Heroes of the Fourth Turning) who, although dead for 20 years, appears to Levant during his hallucinations. At the end of his live on-screen conversation with Paar, Levant is wheedled into playing an excerpt from Rhapsody in Blue, which Hayes performs superbly while also remaining in character. Designer Rachel Hauck’s (Hadestown) set is an apt homage to mid-century modern and Emilio Sosa’s (Sweeney Todd) costume for June is a delight. Director Lisa Peterson (Light Shining in Buckinghamshire) gets us through the long exposition before the fun begins as expeditiously as possible. While the other actors served their roles well, most of the success or failure of the play rests on whether Hayes can create a plausible version of Levant. Although I thought he initially overdid the tics and restlessness, I found him increasingly convincing as the play progressed. Although he bears absolutely no physical resemblance to Levant, he actually started to look more and more like him. I’m not sure how much those who did not know Levant as actor, conductor, raconteur or pianist will appreciate the show, but Hayes’ performance is well worth seeing. Running time: one hour 40 minutes; no intermission.

Ain't No Mo'

B+

I am sorry that I was unable to score a ticket to Jordan E. Cooper’s funny, fierce satire about racism in America earlier in in its run at The Public Theater so I could have urged you to see it. Since it closes on May 5, I won’t take up much of your time with my remarks about it except to say that this 24-year-old recent graduate of The New School’s College of Performing Arts is a playwright to watch. 35 years after George C. Wolfe’s “The Colored Museum,” Cooper has written — and stars in — this collection of scenes from the African-American experience that are loosely tied together by the notion that all American blacks have, sometime in the not very distant future, been offered free one-way plane tickets to Dakar. Cooper plays Peaches, the assertive gate agent for Flight 1619, the final flight to Africa. The other five actors — Fedna Jacquet, Marchant Davis, Simone Recasner, Ebony Marshall-Oliver and Crystal Lucas-Perry — all fine, are unfortunately only identified as passengers 1 through 5, so it is difficult to single anyone out for special praise. They assume many roles in a series of scenes that take place in locations as varied as a funeral, an abortion clinic, the set of a “Housewives”-style reality show, the dining room of a wealthy assimilated black family and a prison. As often happens in a collection of this sort, the quality of the scenes varies widely, with more hits than misses. Even the weaker ones usually make up in energy what they lack in coherence. The scenic design by Kimie Nishikawa (The Light), the costumes by Montana Levi Blanco (Daddy) and the hair, wig and makeup design by Cookie Jordan all enhance the production substantially. Director Stevie Walker-Webb occasionally loses momentum near the end of the play. I was glad I caught it before it closed and look forward to seeing what Mr. Cooper does next. Running time: one hour 50 minutes; no intermission.