GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR Reviews- Page 2

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 7:37am

I'm no fan of Green's -- on the contrary, to me he's often guy to make us miss Brantley -- yet his review here isn't really an outlier take, as some seem to opine. If you read all of those tallied, the play is dissected with something akin to consensus*. The Vulture review is close to a companion piece to the NY Times. After a discerning friend's report from Chicago I expected more genuinely mixed reviews, but it seems to be an especially unpredictable season.   

*An example from a review considered positive, Variety's. A review that calls the play proper "conventional" and "unmemorable" is more of a definitive "mixed."
 
"In this, “Good Night, Oscar” seems content to provide a showcase for a notable figure accompanied by musings on topical themes. It could surely go deeper to find more to say beyond the simple, “Look how exploitative this system is.”  But the largest fault of the play may be its conventionality. It is without a doubt a well-made play, with clear structure and stakes, tight pacing, funny jokes and concisely rendered characters. But it does not push the envelope in any way — which is a shame, considering that is exactly what Oscar Levant was famous for. Still, Hayes’ performance in “Good Night, Oscar” demands to be seen. Though the play itself may not be memorable, Hayes’ acting feat undoubtedly is."

 

Updated On: 4/25/23 at 07:37 AM

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 9:18am

MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "In any case, I don't think any review could stop Sean Hayes from winning the Tony at this point. He is sublime and checking off every single box when it comes to winning awards. Plus, his biggest competition is from closed shows. And, critics aren't Tony voters!"

Actually, a handful of critics are Tony voters, only if they're members of the New York Drama Critics Circle. Also keep in mind that voters have to log productions they've seen throughout the season into a portal system. Although new rules were applied to this year where if a voter only missed one nominee in any category, they'll be given a pass and vote anyway. But if they missed more than one, then they won't be allowed to vote. So Sean Hayes wouldn't necessarily 100% benefit from potentially being the only nominee who's show is still running. It's gonna be interesting to see how much of this year's Best Lead Actor in a Play nominees will be from closed shows and how many voters got to see all but maybe one of them.

Updated On: 4/25/23 at 09:18 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 9:42am

For me, it’s less about Green being out of step with other critics and more about how he says things and what he objects to. He has a very straight-laced and even at times prudish streak and often will fixate on things he finds unseemly and end up tossing the baby out with the bath water.

(I also think he often missteps in reviews of shows about people of color, which then causes him to overcorrect and handle other shows with kid gloves).

Updated On: 4/25/23 at 09:42 AM

[JasonC3]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 9:58am

Kad said: "For me, it’s less about Green being out of step with other critics and more about how he says things and what he objects to. He has a very straight-laced and even at times prudish streak and often will fixate on things he finds unseemly and end up tossing the baby out with the bath water.

(I also think he often missteps in reviews of shows about people of color, which then causes him to overcorrect and handle other shows with kid gloves)."

This. 100%.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 10:21am

This is something Sam Eckmann just said in the Gold Derby message boards: "Good Night, Oscar is not the type of play many critics go for these days. But people who are actually in the industry (aka Tony voters) are VERY high on it, especially for Hayes." He mentioned before nominations were announced last year that people within the industry liked MJ way more than the critics did. That show ended up receiving 10 bids overall, won 4 awards, and probably came in second to A Strange Loop for Best Musical. If Good Night, Oscar has a similar trajectory this year, we should all pay attention to what he hears more often.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 10:30am

That's really interesting about MJ, since I had forgotten that the critics weren't particularly kind to it. Looking at Did They Like It?, it had 5 positive reviews, 5 mixed, and 6 negative, with the positive reviews being flat-out raves, which is similar to the enthusiasm of Oscar's positives.

Updated On: 4/25/23 at 10:30 AM

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 10:51am

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "In any case, I don't think any review could stop Sean Hayes from winning the Tony at this point. He is sublime and checking off every single box when it comes to winning awards. Plus, his biggest competition is from closed shows. And, critics aren't Tony voters!"

Actually, a handful of critics are Tony voters, only if they're members of the New York Drama Critics Circle. Also keep in mind that voters have to log productions they've seen throughout the season into a portal system. Although new rules were applied to this year where if a voter only missed one nominee in any category, they'll be given a pass and vote anyway. But if they missed more than one, then they won't be allowed to vote. So Sean Hayes wouldn't necessarily 100% benefit from potentially being the only nominee who's show is still running. It's gonna be interesting to see how much of this year's Best Lead Actor in a Play nominees will be from closed shows and how many voters got to see all but maybe one of them."

Yes I know. A handful. So they are not a meaningful block of voters. None of them are nominators. Most of the critics weighing in with negative opinions on this play are not deciding the Tonys. And I'm aware of the portal. I mentioned that his competition is from closed shows because Hayes will benefit from recency bias. Pierce and McKinley Henderson were amazing, but its been many many months since their plays closed. Hayes has more momentum because he's coming in at the end of the season, in a role tailor made for awards, and will be fresh in people's minds.

If the critics decided the Tonys, Idina Menzel never would have been able to win for Wicked (which most critics didn't care for).

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 12:30pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "This is something Sam Eckmann just said in the Gold Derby message boards: "Good Night, Oscar is not the type of play many critics go for these days. But people who are actually in the industry (aka Tony voters) are VERY high on it, especially for Hayes." 

So the show is a schmooze vector?

 

[rubytuesday]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 1:21pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "This is something Sam Eckmann just said in the Gold Derby message boards: "Good Night, Oscar is not the type of play many critics go for these days. But people who are actually in the industry (aka Tony voters) are VERY high on it, especially for Hayes." He mentioned before nominations were announced last year that people within the industry likedMJway more than the critics did. That show ended up receiving 10 bids overall, won 4 awards, and probably came in second toA Strange Loopfor Best Musical. IfGood Night, Oscarhas a similar trajectory this year, we should all pay attention to what he hears more often."

Thanks for this. This is SO interesting. And it feels like the absolute truth.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 7:02pm

For those furious with Jesse Green...at least Rex Reed loved it! I haven't seen him gush over something this much since...Beanie in Funny Girl!

 

Review: Sean Hayes Is a Miracle In ‘Good Night, Oscar’

Hayes is busy as a freeway and entertaining without pause in his sensational portrayal of Oscar Levant in one of the few Broadway shows that unimpeachably deserves its tumultuous standing ovation.

https://observer.com/2023/04/rex-reed-theater-review-sean-hayes-good-night-oscar/

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 8:11pm

MemorableUserName said: "For those furious with Jesse Green...at least Rex Reed loved it! I haven't seen him gush over something this much since...Beanie in Funny Girl!



Review: Sean Hayes Is a Miracle In ‘Good Night, Oscar’

Hayes is busy as a freeway and entertaining without pause in his sensational portrayal of Oscar Levant in one of the few Broadway shows that unimpeachably deserves its tumultuous standing ovation.

https://observer.com/2023/04/rex-reed-theater-review-sean-hayes-good-night-oscar/"

Yikes. Would’ve been better if he panned it.

[UWS10023]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 8:29pm

MemorableUserName said: "Vulture:

The Playing’s the Thing: Sean Hayes Shows Range in Good Night, Oscar

https://www.vulture.com/2023/04/theater-review-sean-hayes-levant-good-night-oscar.html

"I would not recommend showing up an hour and twenty minutes into a Broadway show, but it sure would be nice if you could do that at Good Night, Oscar. The play, structured around Oscar Levant’s appearance on The Tonight Show With Jack Paar in 1958, idles in neutral for the bulk of its run time, falling into that Wikipedia-theater trap of having characters relay their histories to each other via factoid. But once the TV taping starts, the thing shifts into gear and the performances come to life—or really, one key performance.""

This is exactly what I said in the other thread. The play does not take off until the taping of the show. I had a rush ticket in the front row. When you sit that close the acting has to be organic and truthful. Instead it was somewhat wooden. I think if a non celebrity had played the lead role we would all be paying less attention. Hayes was ok but he would not be my pick for best actor.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 4/25/23 at 8:37pm

Kad said: "For me, it’s less about Green being out of step with other critics and more about how he says things and what he objects to. He has a very straight-laced and even at times prudish streak and often will fixate on things he finds unseemly and end up tossing the baby out with the bath water.

(I also think he often missteps in reviews of shows about people of color, which then causes him to overcorrect and handle other shows with kid gloves)."

Im not saying youre wrong here, I havent noticed/thought about it, but the examples I can think of where Green was cold to a popular production are Company, Prima Facie and Oscar. None can be considered shows where race plays a role.... just curious what youre referring to.

[ChorusKitty]

Posted: 4/27/23 at 4:30pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "This is something Sam Eckmann just said in the Gold Derby message boards: "Good Night, Oscar is not the type of play many critics go for these days. But people who are actually in the industry (aka Tony voters) are VERY high on it, especially for Hayes." He mentioned before nominations were announced last year that people within the industry likedMJway more than the critics did. That show ended up receiving 10 bids overall, won 4 awards, and probably came in second toA Strange Loopfor Best Musical. IfGood Night, Oscarhas a similar trajectory this year, we should all pay attention to what he hears more often."

Interesting, thanks for posting this. I guess we'll see next week if the Tony nominationing committee are among those insiders who are much more impressed than the critics were.  

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 8:26pm

Can anyone help with seating advice for this? Would Rear Orch (under the overhang im sure) be prblematic? What about extreme sides of orch or mezz?

[bettyco]

Posted: 5/2/23 at 9:51pm

I sat in the very last seat to on the left side of the house and missed only a little bit of business - most of the play is performed center stage.

[jbm2]

Posted: 5/3/23 at 1:16am

What is the running time? 

[RunnyBabbit]

Posted: 5/3/23 at 8:51am

jbm2 said: "What is the running time?"

On Telecharge it says 1:40, but we weren’t out of the theatre until 9:50. It started close to on time, so I would say probably add 7 or 8 minutes to that.

Ended up having to almost run to get to Megabus on time.

[Voter]

Posted: 5/5/23 at 4:19pm

PipingHotPiccolo said: "Can anyone help with seating advice for this? Would Rear Orch (under the overhang im sure) be prblematic? What about extreme sides of orch or mezz?"

If I am looking at the stage, which one has a better view: side left orchestra or right side orchestra?

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 5/5/23 at 4:23pm

House left, for the piano playing.

[Voter]

Posted: 5/5/23 at 4:27pm

TaffyDavenport said: "House left, for the piano playing."

Thank you. Is House Left the same thing as my left?

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 5/5/23 at 4:28pm

Voter said: "TaffyDavenport said: "House left, for the piano playing."

Thank you. Is House Left the same thing as my left?"

Yes.

 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 5/7/23 at 6:30pm

saw this today. Hayes really is giving an absolute master class performance here; his piano recital alone was a sight to behold (and received a loud, sustained, standing ovation from an appreciative audience). its an award-worthy turn. but so was wendell pierce's. so was corey hawkins'. what a year.

that said, its a frustratingly weak play. it has a few funny lines, but the entire first half is sloooooow. I know absolutely nothing about Lavant, and instead of showing us who he is, we are told in awkward summaries TO oscar here and there. a fatal mistake. and since we meet Lavant in the throes of his mental illness, thats all we see of him. which Hayes renders brilliantly but its not enough really to tell a full story. I hate to do drive from the backseat with 20/20 hindsight, but if they're going to drag me to imaginary conversations with Gershwin's ghost, why not have Lavant snap out of the moment and show us some witticisms or performances from his past? 

The rear-orchestra discount seats are worth grabbing. We paid $85 to sit in Row L towards the left; the seats next to us were double that and we saw everything fine. Not sure why these producers are resisting TDF--- lots of random empty seats here and there in the orchestra. 

A group of tourists were seated in Rows L-N, all women in their 50s from the Midwest, who talked through the entire show like they were in their own living room, and unwrapped every individually wrapped candy they could fit in their carryon on the flight over. They went nuts for Hayes, and I wrote them off, in their cheesy clothes, as Will & Grace fans who were about to be sorely disappointed that Jack and Karen weren't about to make an appearance. But as irritating and obnoxious as they were, it turns out they were big fans of.... Lavant, because they knew his lines, anticipated his quips and actions before they happened. They were miserable to sit near but was a nice lesson in judging books by their cover for me.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 12:14am

Saw this today and actually enjoyed this a lot.  I had been a little apprehensive after hearing about how weak the script was, and sure it was a bit didactic, but I felt that it went down pretty easy and my curiosity about Oscar kept me engaged.  Having not known anything about Oscar Levant, I felt that some of Jesse Green's criticisms of telling the audience things the characters already knew were a bit of a moot point; I definitely appreciated those moments, and in the context of Max describing his movies, I felt that it seemed in character and didn't stick out to me.  I'd agree that the show takes off a lot more once we get to the actual taping, but I never found myself feeling restless for it.  It was interesting seeing the different characters interact and the back and forth between them (June and her quips I especially enjoyed).  It definitely made me want to look up Oscar more after the show (though it seems there's sadly not a ton of video footage of his talk show appearances).

(minor spoilers, but nothing you wouldn't know from reading the reviews) What I thought was the weakest part was when Oscar sits down at the piano after having told everyone else he was going to play one of his compositions.  Dramatically, it would seem as if it's leading up to a moment of triumph for him, to finally emerge as a fully realized composer and escape from the shadow of George Gershwin.  But of course in the end he plays Rhapsody in Blue because of a promise he had made to Gershwin.  Based on the arc of his character in the show, it almost feels like it's taking a step back in his development.  And yes, everyone talks about how much that music is etched into his soul, but the lead up to it just fell a little flat for me (though the performance itself was quite good in the way that it was done).  It still manages to feel like a bit of a triumph just because you're watching Sean Hayes play the piano for 7 minutes and the ending is fairly bombastic, but then it makes the scene after it also feel dull in comparison.  I understand why that scene was needed, but I kind of wish they had just dropped the curtain after the piano performance.

Anyways, Sean Hayes in particular was fantastic, and I thought the rest of the cast was all in good form, but somewhat pale in comparison.  Wendell Pierce had been my pick for Best Actor before, but I think Hayes just slightly edges him out in my mind, though I really wouldn't mind if any of the 5 nominees took home the award, talk about an embarrassment of riches.

Lottery seats were right mezz row C

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 1:51am

chrishuyen said: 

Anyways, Sean Hayes in particular was fantastic, and I thought the rest of the cast was all in good form, but somewhat pale in comparison. Wendell Pierce had been my pick for Best Actor before, but I think Hayes just slightly edges him out in my mind, though I really wouldn't mind if any of the 5 nominees took home the award, talk about an embarrassment of riches."

Could not agree more re the riches of this season in that category. Corey Hawkins probably knocked me out the hardest, but there is no weak link in that category. And there Hayes is so lost in this role, it was really remarkable. The piano performance was incredible, but it was his last scene with his wife where he really grabbed me by the throat. Cant shake it. Glad I saw it.