GOODNIGHT, OSCAR'S Sean Hayes Wins Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
From portraying a trailblazing talk show guest to a Tony Award winner! Sean Hayes has won the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his stupendous performance as Oscar Levant in Good Night, Oscar. He was crowned onstage at the 2023 Tony Awards at the United Palace. Hayes beat out fellow nominees Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for Topdog/Underdog, Corey Hawkins for Topdog/Underdog, Stephen McKinley Henderson for Between Riverside and Crazy, and Wendell Pierce for Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.
Sean Hayes is a cultural icon for so many reasons, namely his performance as Jack McFarland on Will & Grace, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Hayes has previously been seen on Broadway in Promises, Promises and An Act of God, and earned a Tony nomination for his performance in Promises, Promises.
It’s 1958, and Jack Paar hosts the hottest late-night talk-show on television. His favorite guest? Character actor, pianist, and wild card Oscar Levant. Famous for his witty one-liners, Oscar has a favorite: “There’s a fine line between genius and insanity; I have erased this line.” Tonight, Oscar will prove just that when he appears live on national TV in an episode that Paar’s audience—and the rest of America—won’t soon forget. Good Night, Oscar explores the nexus of humor and heartbreak, the ever-dwindling distinction between exploitation and entertainment, and the high cost of baring one’s soul for public consumption.
