Oscar Levant (1906-1972) was an actor and pianist who is probably best remembered as a witty guest on talk shows, Jack Paar's especially. He was in some good movies — An American in Paris and The Band Wagon, to name two — and on a whole lot of radio shows but America couldn't get enough of him on with Paar, bashing celebrities and celebrating his own illnesses. He was also a friend and confidante of George Gershwin and a protector of the man's legacy.
And for a year or so, he was a freeloader in the home of Harpo Marx…a notion that intrigued my pal Dan Castellaneta when he read of it in a book on Harpo. The whole notion — dour, sarcastic Levant rooming with zany, lovable Marx caught Dan's fancy and he starting thinking of a different Odd Couple: Oscar and Harpo instead of Oscar and Felix. This led to the play For Piano and Harpo written by Dan and starring him as Levant.
It's now playing through March 5 at Garry Marshall's Falcon Theater out in Burbank. It was directed by Stefan Novinski and it also stars J.D. Cullum, Deb Lacusta, Gail Matthius, Phil Proctor, and Jonathan Stark. You can order tickets here.
If you do, you'll note that at the performances on three Thursdays — 2/16, 2/23 and 3/2 — the play will be followed by a half-hour "talkback" on stage, discussing the work and the men. On February 23, which is the night I'm going to see it, I'll be moderating the talkback.
No, I haven't see it yet so this can't be much of a recommendation. On the other hand, I know Dan and I know that as wonderful as he is as Homer Simpson and other yellow people, that represents about 30% of what he can do. He's a fine actor and a very smart man…and I was just about to spend my own money for tickets when they asked me to host the talkback…so I'm sure looking forward to it.
P.S. The following Thursday, March 2, I'm the moderator for another event out in Burbank that will be of great interest to folks interested in animation and especially in animation voices. As soon as the folks running it make the formal announcement, I'll tell you about it here.