2's Got Your Ticket: A look back at Chicago theatre's most memorable performance
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The end of the year is a good time to look back at memorable moments, and Chicago theater is no exception.
With 2's Got Your Ticket, entertainment reporter Vince Gerasole talks about "Good Night, Oscar" with playwright Doug Wright. It was at the Goodman Theatre earlier this spring.
Wright talks about the production, set around a 1950s Oscar Levant appearance on the "Jack Parr Show." Despite being plagued with substance abuse issues, Levant was known for his sharp wit and droll sense of humor.
Levant was a brilliant concert pianist, composer and actor, featured in dozens of movies from Hollywood's Golden Era. Some of his films include "Rhapsody in Blue," "An American in Paris," "The Barkleys of Broadway" and "The Bandwagon" among others.
Levant was also a popular talk show host towards the end of his career.
"He's fallen off our pop culture radar, but Oscar was many things," Wright said. "Oscar is fascinating because he really redefined what we think about with American humor. He was bedeviled by several illnesses and used them as fodder for his comedy. At the same time, it was progressive in as much as it helped to remove some of the stigma that surrounds those conditions. But I tried to include some of those choice witticisms that he's so famous."
Wright said if anyone is a fan of movies from the 1950s, they'll get this notable quip from Oscar Levan.
"I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin."
"Good Night, Oscar" heads to New York City where it'll be staged in 2023 at the Belasco Theatre.
