Sean Hayes plays piano, talks about powerhouse performance in ‘Good Night, Oscar’ (2024)

FAQs

Does Sean Hayes really play the piano in Good Night, Oscar? ›

But near the end, Levant gets behind the piano and plays Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue” on NBC. Hayes, a gifted piano player himself, does this in full view of the audience — and from memory.

He was even the first pianist to record Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue” besides the composer. “Rhapsody in Blue” is featured in the climax of Good Night, Oscar; it's the song Hayes (as Levant) performs for Paar's live broadcast. And yes, Hayes plays the piano live each night.

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.

In the play, Levant gets a four-hour leave from a mental health facility to appear on Jack Paar's "Tonight Show." It's based on a real incident and, according to Wright, "In spirit, it's largely true."

Q: Does Scott Bakula actually play piano on “NCIS: New Orleans”? A: Yes. Bakula played piano before taking on the role of Dwayne Pride. He told “CBS This Morning” in 2015 that the show then worked his piano playing into Pride's character.

Years before “Will & Grace,” Hayes was a classical pianist. In the new Broadway play “Good Night, Oscar,” he returns to the piano to portray a famously troubled musician and witty guest of late-night TV shows.

Emmy Award winner Sean Hayes (“Will & Grace”, “SmartLess”) stars as the irrepressible Oscar Levant in the new Broadway play, Good Night, Oscar.

Oscar's first instructor was his sister, Daisy. She became a respected piano teacher in Montreal's Black community. Her later pupils included the jazz musicians Oliver Jones, Joe Sealy and Reg Wilson. Peterson's brother, Chuck, became a professional trumpet player.

Charlie Sheen does not play the piano on the show. He is dubbed by composer Grant Geissman, who plays offstage while Sheen fakes it on a dead keyboard. With composer Dennis C. Brown, Geissman also writes the music for the jingles Sheen's character creates.

The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the film industry. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy's voting membership.

Who is Oscar based on? ›

Actress Bette Davis claimed that the name derived from her observation that the backside of the statuette looked like that of her husband Harmon Oscar Nelson. Columnist Sidney Skolsky maintained that he gave the award its nickname.

The Oscars is a popular name for the Academy Awards—an annual award ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to honor excellence in film. The award presented during the ceremony—a statuette in the form of a gold-plated figure—is called an Academy Award, but it is popularly known as an Oscar.

No they are not supposed to, otherwise it would defeat the element of surprise especially for viewers if word got out; David described it perfectly; some movies/actors/directors/producers etc. though are just so obvious as to their being winners that the secrecy wouldn't matter; say some of Mad Max's wins that night.

It is a big moment for India as it made history at the 95th Academy Awards with two Oscar wins in one night. 'Naatu Naatu' won Best original song from the Telegu blockbuster motion picture “RRR”, and “The Elephant Whisperers” took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Short.

Until 1950, the Best Picture award was given to the production company; from 1951 on, it has gone to the producer or producers.

Weatherly sings and plays several instruments, including piano and guitar. He has written several songs, including two songs from the NCIS soundtracks, "Bitter and Blue" and "Under the Sun".

He was a singer, an actor, and an entertainer, not a piano player. He could sing a pop tune better than Horowitz, I presume. Those of us who actually know what we're talking about revere Sinatra as one of the greatest song stylists to have ever recorded.

“My daughter can sing beautifully.” She did, however, take piano lessons for 12 years. The star told Wired that she begrudgingly took piano lessons for 12 years and “hated every minute of it.” She also mentioned in her 2010 Oscar acceptance speech that she took ballet.

A global piano sensation, Lang Lang is no stranger to success and is currently worth an estimated $30 million (£22m).

Will (Eric McCormack) and Jack (Sean Hayes) were gay, and Karen (Megan Mullally) turned out to be bisexual. In 1998, that was a Really Big Deal because it was so unusual. Yes, the lead character had come out on “Ellen” 17 months earlier. And there had been gay characters on American sitcoms for 30 years.

Who won two Oscars for Best Actor? ›

Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix were the second pair of actors to win an Academy Award for portraying the same character in different films. Ledger played The Joker in The Dark Knight, and was posthumously awarded with the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2009 after his tragic death in January 2008.

The Powerful Story of the Only Actor to Win Two Oscars for the Same Performance. The story of Harold Russell is truly remarkable, but what led him to winning two Academy Awards for the same performance?

Peterson had received classical piano lessons from the age of six in his native Montreal. The impetus came from his father, a railway porter and self-taught pianist.

Oscar Peterson is considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. Born in Montreal, he began studying classical piano as a child.

Born in Liverpool, McCartney taught himself piano, guitar and songwriting as a teenager, having been influenced by his father, a jazz player, and rock and roll performers such as Little Richard and Buddy Holly.

His birth name is Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez, which still appears on his driver's license. He knows the lyrics to and can sing—if not always on key—the majority of Frank Sinatra's songs. He has played father to his real-life son Charlie in the movies Wall Street and No Code of Conduct and on an episode of Spin City.

Charlie Sheen's net worth is estimated to be over $21 million dollars.

During a radio interview Monday morning on The Dan Patrick Show, Sheen explained that his raspy voice was the result of his trying to go back to work. "I went back to work and I was banging on the stage door.

To put it simply, the answer is 'no,' the winners don't get paid in cash. As per media reports, there never really is any direct cash prize for winning an Oscar; however, those who do win, see a boost to their bank accounts and reputation, often eventually.

How much is a real Oscar worth? ›

In 1950 the Academy introduced a law prohibiting the sale of the Oscars. The real price of the statuettes is actually one dollar. In the event that a person wants to get rid of one of the awards, they cannot sell it and will have to return it to the Academy for that price.

Simple answer. The simple answer is no, Academy Awards winners, no matter the importance of the prize they've won, do not receive a direct cash or cheque prize.

And so is the case for Johnny Depp, one of Hollywood's most talented and beloved actors of all time. It still comes as a surprise to many fans that he actually still hasn't received an Academy Award.

Eddie Redmayne has earned two Oscar nominations and one win throughout his career. His win was for 2014's The Theory of Everything, in which he plays legendary physicist Stephen Hawking.

The very first person to win the illustrious prize for stepping into a real person's shoes was George Arliss, who portrayed former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in the biopic “Disraeli” (1929).

The Statuette Is Modeled After A Knight.

Ever notice that "Oscar" grips a sword? That's because the original design for the statuette featured a knight posed above a reel of film, to represent a "crusader" of the industry.

The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year.

The Story Behind the Chiseled Actor Who Struck Gold. The golden statue was inspired by Mexican actor and director Emilio Fernandez.

In an interview with Parade magazine, Eddie - who has released three albums and had a hit single with 'Party All the Time' in 1985 - spilled: “No one's ever seen me play piano. I started playing piano up at 'Saturday Night Live'.

Oscar began playing trumpet and piano at age five. He focused solely on piano at age eight following a year-long battle with tuberculosis. (The disease claimed the life of his eldest brother, Fred, at age 16.) Oscar's first instructor was his sister, Daisy.

Does actor Christopher Lloyd play the piano? ›

Christopher Lloyd: Oh, I am not a piano player. I had the obligatory piano lessons growing up but I have not really touched a piano since then.

Ten years ago, actor Sean Hayes and playwright David Adjmi were working together to develop a play based on the life of Oscar Levant, the actor, pianist and notorious wit of Hollywood's Golden Age. Now Hayes is preparing to bring Good Night, Oscar to Broadway next spring. The play is written by Doug Wright.

In the movie “Interview with the Vampire,” there is a scene where Tom Cruise played a Haydn sonata on the piano. His piano playing skills were undoubtedly superb, nobody would suspect that he didn't know how to play the instrument before starring on the said film.

In Bradley Cooper's directorial debut, A Star is Born, he took six months of guitar and piano lessons to prepare for his role title role in the film. However, many people don't know that Bradley is actually a trained classical musician.

David Syme, an American pianist and the UCC Classical Artist in Residence, is to perform a series of special concerts in which he shares his story of stroke recovery. The renowned classical musician suffered a stroke while playing on-stage in Waterville, Co Kerry in 2017.

Oscar Peterson was born on August 15, 1925, in the Canadian city of Montreal, acquiring the musical confidence he exhibits today at an early age. Born with a naturally perfect pitch, he learned to play classical piano from his older sister Daisy, who also taught piano to Montreal pianist Oliver Jones.

(And those acoustic guitars fuzzy in her background weren't just for show: “She wouldn't call herself a guitar or piano player but plays both anyway,” her rep says.) Renée Zellweger, Grammy nominee.

Miley Cyrus worked with a dialect coach to help lose her Southern accent. She also learned to play a classical piano.

Natalie Portman learned to play the piano for her role.

And yes, Carrey did learn to play the piano for the movie.