🎭 Lights, Laughter & Levant: Good Night, Oscar Dazzles at Asolo Rep
Sarasota’s own Asolo Repertory Theatre continues its streak of bold, thought-provoking productions with the regional premiere of Good Night, Oscar, running April 4–26, 2025. Based on the larger-than-life figure Oscar Levant — a brilliant, self-deprecating pianist, actor, and icon of mid-century pop culture — this show doesn’t just entertain. It electrifies.
And it all happens in one unforgettable night.
Who Was Oscar Levant?
Oscar Levant was many things: concert pianist, film star, television personality, and quite possibly the sharpest wit ever to appear on late-night television. He was also fiercely open about his struggles with mental health — long before it was common to talk about such things publicly.
In Good Night, Oscar, we step into a single night in 1958 when Levant appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar, fresh out of a psychiatric hospital. What follows is a rollercoaster of tension, humor, and heartbreaking honesty — the kind only Oscar could deliver.
Sasha Andreev, portraying Jack Paar in Asolo Repertory Theatre’s production of Good Night, Oscar, delivers a compelling performance that captures the essence of the iconic television host. Andreev’s portrayal brings authenticity and depth to the role, effectively transporting audiences to the golden age of television.
Asolo Rep Brings It Home
This Florida premiere comes to life under the direction of Peter Amster, known for his delicate balance of humor and heart. His connection to Levant’s legacy is personal, having grown up in a home where Levant’s records spun on repeat.
Levant had a dry, droll wit, and he was a genius pianist, He told the truth about himself in ways that shocked people. He wasn’t afraid to go there.
That’s exactly what this play does: it goes there — diving into Levant’s brilliance and instability, his comedy and his chaos, all in front of a studio audience.
Starring Max Roll as Oscar Levant
Taking on the role of Levant is actor and musician Max Roll, who previously understudied the role in the Broadway run. He doesn’t just play Levant — he becomes him.
Roll’s ability to mirror Levant’s haunting humor and erratic genius is matched by his piano chops, making the performance not only dramatically compelling but musically mesmerizing. And yes — he plays live.
One minute, he’s unleashing an off-the-cuff one-liner that makes the audience howl; the next, he’s pounding out a Rachmaninoff prelude with raw, unfiltered passion.
More Than Just a Biopic
This isn’t your typical backstage biographical drama. Good Night, Oscar is a meditation on the pressures of celebrity, the stigma around mental health, and the very thin line between genius and madness.
In one particularly gripping moment, Levant muses: “There’s a fine line between brilliance and insanity. I have erased this line.” And that’s the show in a nutshell.
It’s witty. It’s bold. It’s painfully real.
Good Night, Oscar is a masterclass in storytelling — sharp, vulnerable, and unflinchingly human. The performance disarms you with humor, then floors you with heart. It’s not just theater; it’s truth dressed in brilliance.”
— Susan Short,
The Experience at Asolo Rep
The show runs from April 4 to April 26, 2025. The venue is the gorgeous FSU Center for the Performing Arts, located right on Tamiami Trail.
Expect a full theater experience: pre-show lobby buzz, after-show talkbacks on select nights, and initiatives like the IllumiNation Series and OUT@Asolo Rep, which promote community connection and dialogue around the work.
Tickets can be purchased at www.asolorep.org.
Why You Should Go
If you love drama, you’ll get it. If you love music, you’ll be stunned. If you love truth — the raw, messy, hilarious kind — this show delivers that in spades.
Oscar Levant once said, “I only know two tunes: one of them is ‘Yankee Doodle’ and the other isn’t.” That’s the kind of left-field genius this show captures.
Whether you’re a lifelong Levant fan or walking into the theater blind, Good Night, Oscar will stick with you. Not just because it’s a great show — but because it says something real, and says it beautifully.
Final Curtain
So say good night — or rather, Good Night, Oscar — with Asolo Rep this April. Come for the music, stay for the mind, and leave with your heart just a little bit fuller.
“You walk in expecting laughs — and you get them. But what stays with you is the raw honesty and heartbreak behind the humor. Good Night, Oscar is unforgettable.”
— Susan Short
