Playwright Speaks Out Against Sean Hayes about Broadway-bound Oscar Levant Play

When it was suggested that out actor Sean Hayes star in a play about Oscar Levant, he said: "Who the hell is Oscar Levant?"

For those with long memories, Levant was a stand-by character actor in Hollywood musicals in the 1940s and 1950s, often adding acerbic commentary while performing tidbits from the classical repertoire, including some from his friend George Gershwin. He is best-known for two Vincente Minnelli musicals: "An American in Paris," where he plays an impoverished concert pianist, and "The Band Wagon," where he's a half of a writing team patterned after Betty Comden and Adolph Green. (Nanette Fabray played his partner.) By the 1960s, a chronically ill Levant (he lived with addiction issues and anxiety) became a frequent guest on late-night television programs where he displayed his biting wit.

Hayes, the New York Times reports, quickly learned about Levant and saw the possibilities of playing him. There was talk of Hayes playing Levant in a Steven Spielberg biopic about Gershwin. That fell through, but led to Hayes pursuing playing Levant on stage.

The result is "Good Night Oscar," a play by out Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright ("I Am My Own Wife"), which recently completed a run at Chicago's Goodman Theater to such a strong response that a Broadway production has been scheduled for next spring. In reviewing the play for the Chicago Tribune, critic Chris Jones called Hayes "a revelation." He writes: "And what a star Wright and his fine director, Lisa Peterson, have found in Sean Hayes, the actor best known for his groundbreaking role on the sitcom 'Will & Grace.' Hayes, who displays talents here most of his fans will have no idea he had at his disposal, dives deep into Levant, a self-torturing Jewish genius who had to fight for his sanity, his creativity, his musical core, his principles and his right to annoy. It's a stunner of a lead performance: moving, empathetic, deeply emotional and slightly terrifying."

But this week Wright's play became the center of controversy when out playwright David Adjmi took to social media to to express his unhappiness with this state of affairs, the New York Times writes in a separate story. published Friday. In his Facebook post, Adjmi explains "he had written an earlier version of a Levant play for Hayes and is not pleased with the way his version was treated. Hayes and the production team have defended their conduct, saying that they had parted ways over 'different creative visions.'"

In his post, Adjmi writes he began working with Hayes in 2013 on a play that they abandoned. Adjmi said he pitched the Levant idea to Hayes, but at first the actor was reluctant. "He did not want to play Oscar Levant, did not want to do a period play, or do anything involving music," Adjmi wrote on FB. He eventually convinced Hayes to do the role and proceeded to write a script commissioned by producer Beth Williams; but when she was not happy with the final script and he would not make suggested changes, "In turn, she told my (then) agent she would give me a sum of money to bury my play for five years while they developed a *new* version of my idea by another writer. Of course, I refused the money."

Because Oscar Levant was in the public domain, Adjmi had no legal hold on his subject. Anyone could write a play on Levant, Adjmi noted in his post. But despite his having turned down their money, Hayes and Williams kept the option of Adjmi's script, which made him to develop it further for five years despite their having no interest in producing his play.

"They blocked me from developing my play at Sundance in 2015, where I was a finalist that year. (The folks at Sundance had never heard of this happening: how could Beth formally pass on a play and still hold the option?)" Adjmi recounted.

"They then took out a press release (this was seven years ago) to announce Sean Hayes's upcoming Broadway play about Oscar Levant, with no writer, no creative team or dates attached–and then threatened my agent that they would sue me if I didn't scrub all mention of my play from the internet."

In 2015, Doug Wright called Adjmi seeking his blessing for a new version. Adjmi told him it wasn't for him to make that determination, then appraised Wright of his history with Hayes and Williams. "I hoped Doug would ask Sean and Beth to release my option as a condition to take the job, or that he'd flat out turn it down, but he simply accepted the assignment." When Wright took it, Adjmi called it "an unfortunate moral decision." Complicating matters is Wright being president of the Dramatists Guild. Adjmi concludes: "And I guess I am wondering after all this, if producers and sitcom actors can use playwright's options to hold writers hostage, and if playwrights don't look out for each other, where exactly are we as a community?" 

The production team behind "Good Night Oscar" released a statement: "After working on the script for roughly two years, it became clear that Mr. Hayes and Mr. Adjmi had different creative visions. The decision was made by the production to sever ties with Mr. Adjmi and both parties understood that each party would continue developing plays based on Oscar Levant. There was no encumbrance on David Adjmi proceeding with his play after the option period he was paid for expired."

Directed by Lisa Peterson, the creative team for "Good Night, Oscar" includes Rachel Hauck (Set Design), Emilio Sosa (Costume Design), Ben Stanton and Carolina Ortiz Herrera (Lighting Design), Andre Pluess (Sound Design), Chris Fenwick (Music Supervision), and J. Jared Janas (Wig, Hair and Make-Up Design).

"Good Night Oscar" begins previews on April 7, 2023 at the Belasco Theatre. For more information, visit https://goodnightoscar.com/