We’re chatting in a studio in South London, where Hayes is rehearsing Good Night, Oscar. The play is based on a controversial 1950s TV chat-show appearance by pianist Oscar Levant, who starred with Gene Kelly in the musical comedy film An American In Paris.
Talking of comedy, I say that Will & Grace really helped to take things forward: in 1996, according to Pew Research Center, 65 per cent of Americans opposed gay marriage. By 2006, when the show finished, the ‘no’s were down to 55 per cent. By 2013, US support for gay marriage hit 50 per cent, with 43 per cent opposed.
Now, though, things seem to be going backwards, I suggest. He sighs. ‘Oh, that’s an understatement. It’s insanity. It feels like there’s a civil war going on. And it makes me so sad because I love America. I have friends on both sides [of politics]. I think the media is the issue – they make money from polarisation.’…
Coming out limited future roles to gay characters, until Broadway found him. Now, as Oscar Levant, he is a married father. There are similarities, however: Hayes is also beloved of the US talk shows (he guest-hosted The Jimmy Kimmel Show) and, like Levant after his role in the film An American In Paris, he endured a career dip following Will & Grace. The play is based on an appearance on Tonight Starring Jack Paar, a late 50s/early 60s late-night talk show. Levant is on a four-hour pass from a mental-health facility. Having filched opioids, he shocks the audience and complaints flood in over his quips about religion, drugs and celebrities. Then, in the emotional climax of the play, he holds his demons at bay long enough to perform a stunning version of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue. He has to show disdain and despair and love and beauty while hammering through the rapid notes and huge left-hand jumps on the piano keys….