Good Night, Oscar

WEST COAST PREMIERE OF THE TONY AWARD-WINNING
GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR
AT NORTH COAST REPERTORY THEATRE

By Doug Wright
Performances Beginning Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Ending Sunday, October 11, 2026
Directed by Tom Frey

Solana Beach, Calif. — He was the funniest man in the room. And the most unfiltered. North Coast Repertory Theatre presents the West Coast Premiere of Good Night, Oscar, Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright's compassionate and wickedly funny portrait of Oscar Levant — pianist, actor, composer, and legendary wit whose sharp tongue was matched only by his profound musical genius. Set during a fateful 1958 appearance on The Jack Paar Show, this electrifying play captures one unforgettable night in the life of Hollywood's most neurotic and uncensored personality: a tortured artist wrestling with mental illness, addiction, and the price of fame, yet never losing his capacity for devastating honesty and breathtaking artistry. On Broadway, Sean Hayes won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as Levant. Equal parts comedy and tragedy, Good Night, Oscar is a love letter to the golden age of television and a showcase for theatrical virtuosity — the story of a man performing himself for an audience, decades before the internet made everyone do it.

"A play that is as funny as it is tragic." — Jack The Lad Magazine

"Perennially relevant... provides a deeply thoughtful take on how social hypocrisies drive popular culture." — Chicago Sun-Times

"Blisteringly funny, razor-sharp and deeply moving." – NY Times

"A waspish, compulsive, meticulously well-crafted piece of theatre"  - WhatsOnStage

Tom Frey directs David Corlew* (Oscar Levant), Megan Carmitchel (June Levant), Jay DeYonker* (George Gershwin), Isaiah Frazilus (Alvin Finney), Brian Mackey* (Jack Paar), Jason Maddy* (Bob Sarnoff), and Wyatt VanHazel (Max Weinbaum). Shannon Humiston* is Stage Manager & Kinzey Eastin Production Assistant.The Design Team includes. Michael Wogulus (Set Design), Matthew Novotny (Light Design), Elisa Benzoni (Costume Design), Tristan King (Sound Design) and Chrisopher Williams (Props Design). Crew includes Clarence Lightfoot.

*The actor or stage manager appears through the courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR previews begin Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at 8:00 pm, with a Friday preview matinee at 2:00 pm. Opening Night September 19. Closing Night is Sunday, October 11, 2026,. The show runs Wednesdays, Thursdays, Friday and Sundays at 7:00 pm, a Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm. Additional matinees are added September 18 and October 2 at 2:00 pm.

BIOS:

DOUG WRIGHT (Playwright) most recent Broadway credit was Good Night, Oscar starring Sean Hayes, who won the Tony Award for his performance. It ran during the 2022-2023 season and opened at London's Barbican in summer 2025. The play received Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work. Other Broadway outings include I Am My Own Wife (Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award and others), War Paint, Hands on a Hardbody (Drama Desk nomination), The Little Mermaid, and Grey Gardens (Tony Award nomination). Off-Broadway credits include Posterity (Atlantic Theatre Company); Unwrap Your Candy (Vineyard Theatre); Quills (New York Theatre Workshop); Standing on Ceremony (Minetta Lane Theater); Buzzsaw Berkeley (WPA Theater). His plays and musicals have been seen in over thirty-three countries. Upcoming projects include the musical The Blaster's Handbook with composer/lyricist David Clement, and a musical adaptation of the novel Less with Jason Robert Brown. Films include Quills (WGA's Paul Selvin Award, Golden Globe nomination) and The Burial starring Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones (NAACP Image Award nomination). He is the former president of the Dramatists Guild of America and a member of SAG-AFTRA, SDC, and the WGA, and has taught at NYU, Princeton, and Yale.

TOM FREY (Director) is delighted to return to North Coast Rep after directing the hit 2 Pianos 4 Hands for the last several seasons. Tom is the US resident director of 2 Pianos 4 Hands, having directed over 25 productions at theatres around the country, including Pioneer Theatre Company, Portland Stage, The Cape Playhouse, Stages Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Pittsburgh City Theatre, North Coast Rep, and many others. He performed in the show (in both roles) over 600 times in the United States and Canada. Tom is the former Artistic Director of the Peterborough Players, having led the theatre through the pandemic with three critically acclaimed seasons from 2021 through 2023. Tom has worked as a director, actor, and musician in the industry for over 25 years. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

DAVID CORLEW* (Oscar) made his Oscar debut this past spring at Farmers Alley Theatre and is thrilled to be back for round two of the role, as well as his North Coast Rep debut. Select theatre: Ceilidh (M&T Bank Exchange in Baltimore — world premiere directed by Sam Pinkleton), both roles in Murder for Two (Actors Theatre of Indiana, Peninsula Players Theatre), As You Like It (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Comedy of Errors (Theatre Fiasco/Actors Theatre of Louisville), Ripcord (Peninsula Players), A Christmas Carol (Goodman Theatre). TV: "Law and Order" (NBC). Training: Northwestern University, New England Center for Circus Arts.

MEGAN CARMITCHEL (June Levant) is thrilled to be making her North Coast Rep debut! She received the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for Actor of the Year in 2022. She has performed in theatres all over San Diego county including The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Cygnet, Lambs Players, Backyard Renaissance, Diversionary, Moonlight Stage Productions, The Welk Resort Theatre, and New Village Arts. Recent select credits: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Streetcar Named Desire (Backyard Renaissance), Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, Life Sucks, Cabaret (Cygnet), Arms and the Man, Once, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Lambs Players), The Last Goodbye, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (The Old Globe). Megan is a co-founder of the award-winning theatre production company, Chalk Circle Collective.

JAY DEYONKER* (George Gershwin) is thrilled to join this fantastic cast at North Coast Rep! An NYU alum, Jay spent five years working in Prague where he was a principal member of the Prague Shakespeare Company. Back in New York, Jay booked roles on "FBI," "FBI: Most Wanted," and "American Horror Story." Most recently, he performed with Luna Stage's Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library off-Broadway at 59E59 as well as the WP Theater. Jay also wrote, produced, and starred in two feature films;  the currently streaming "Triple Threat" (Best Actor nominee at the SOHO Film Festival) and the upcoming musical grief dramedy "C-Side" also starring Andy Mientus, Jessica Vosk, and Tovah Feldshuh. Deepest of gratitude goes out to his friends and family and creative team!

ISAIAH FRAZILUS (Alvin Finney) is beyond excited to join the company of Good Night, Oscar in his North Coast Rep debut. Previous theater credits include Vic in Ironbound by Martyna Majok and Jason Abernathy in the world premiere of Twisted by Chris DiGiovanni. His film and television work includes Chris Castle in "Between Love and Justice," "Envy Leads the Way," "Press," "Decomply," and a guest star role on the BET series "American Gangster." His training includes studying with Howard Fine and Larry Moss, along with vocal training with David Coury.

BRIAN MACKEY* (Jack Paar) has appeared on stages throughout San Diego over the last 20 years. Select credits include: Peril in the Alps, Murder on the Links, Ben Butler, Little Women, A Christmas Carol (North Coast Rep); Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Glass Menagerie, Travesties, The History Boys, A Christmas Carol (Cygnet Theatre); The Play That Goes Wrong, Outside Mullingar, Noises Off, Silent Sky, The Explorer's Club, Baskerville! (Lamb's Players Theatre); The Humans, In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play (San Diego Repertory); Abundance, Smokefall (Backyard Renaissance); Baby with the Bathwater, The Little Dog Laughed (Diversionary Theatre); All My Sons, Hamlet, Enemy of the People (Intrepid Theatre); The Woolgatherer, Jack Goes Boating, In the Heat of the Night, All in the Timing (ion theatre); Romeo, Romeo and Juliet (Roustabouts Theatre); The Heidi Chronicles, Julius Caesar (New Village Arts).

JASON MADDY* (Bob Sarnoff) is grateful to be returning to North Coast Rep, where he was recently seen in multiple roles in The Most Happy Fella. Other San Diego credits include productions at La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, Moonlight Stage Productions, San Diego Musical Theater, Ion Theatre, and Lamb's Players Theatre. Regional credits include the Utah Shakespearean Festival, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival. Jason holds an MFA from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association, and currently teaches acting at San Diego School for the Creative and Performing Arts.

WYATT VANHAZEL (Max Weinbaum) is very excited to be doing his first show with North Coast Rep! You may have recently seen him at Oceanside Theatre Company in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Leaf Coneybear) and Spring Awakening (Otto/Melchior u/s). Wyatt is currently studying Theatre Arts at MiraCosta College. MiraCosta credits include R&H Cinderella (Prince Christopher); Singin' in the Rain (Cosmo Brown); Much Ado About Nothing (Count Claudio). Wyatt has been pursuing acting since he was 10 years old and doesn't plan on turning back.

SHANNON HUMISTON* (Stage Manager) is excited to be back at North Coast Rep for Good Night, Oscar. She is a Kansas City native who has called San Diego home since 2019. Select credits include Scapin (North Coast Rep); Beside Myself (North Coast Rep; Laguna Playhouse); RENT, Merry Me, Head Over Heels, Eighty-Sixed (Diversionary Theatre); Stroll Thru Shushan (San Diego REP); The Garden (La Jolla Playhouse); Hairspray (Kansas City Starlight Theatre); King Lear (Saratoga Shakespeare Company); and Avenue Q (Nebraska Repertory Theatre). She is also the Production Manager for MOXIE Theatre and a Production Coordinator for San Diego Theatres.