New York Mysteries    August 12

A perfectly delightful New York Saturday afternoon: lunch at Cafe Un, Deux, Trois followed by GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR.

I had not been in Un, Deus, Trois in years. I had remembered it as being small and intimate. Not at all. Last Saturday it was bustling and smartly jazzy. Everything was perfect: the food, the decor, the lady’s room, the service.

Also, it’s next door to the Belasco Theater. We had perfect orchestra seats. Row H 112 and 113, on the aisle. I looked around the old theater and remembered sitting in the balcony, twisting my neck so I could see the stage’s far corner. The restored Tiffany lights shimmered on the various murals.  It was the first time I’d attended a theater in a few months. I chose GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR because I’m one of Sean Hayes’s many fans. Remember him on Will and Grace? The matinee performance was packed. Hayes’s initial entrance was greeted with loud applause. The show was his. Aside from Stephanie Janssen who played Levant’s martyred wife brilliantly, the other actors could have phoned in their lines. I remember Oscar Levant from An American Paris and Bandwagon. He came across as lonely and cranky. He’s remembered as being witty and playing the piano.