Alex Wyse Talks ‘Good Night, Oscar,’ ‘Summoning Sylvia,’ & More
An award-winning storyteller who is quickly making his mark as an actor, writer, producer, and director, Alex Wyse is currently starring opposite Sean Hayes in the highly anticipated Broadway production of Good Night, Oscar at the Belasco Theater.
Following witty character actor and musician Oscar Levant (Hayes), who appears on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar at the peak of his addiction, Wyse plays Max Weinbaum, a new intern and well-meaning fan of all things showbiz, who tends to Oscar during his appearance. The show explores the nexus between humor and heartbreak, as well as the ever-dwindling distinction between exploitation, entertainment, and the high cost of baring one’s soul for public consumption.
No stranger to the stage, Wyse’s other Broadway credits include Spring Awakening and Waitress, as well as Boq in the national tour of Wicked.
Additionally, Wyse has brought dynamic stories and character to life on screen with credits including Indoor Boys and The Bold and the Beautiful, and he is showcasing his talent behind the camera in his latest project, Summoning Sylvia, a queer horror comedy that he co-wrote and co-directed alongside his writing partner Wesley Taylor. Starring Travis Coles, Michael Urie, and Frankie Grande, the film chronicles a gay bachelor party that takes a spooky and hilarious turn.
OFM sat down with Wyse to talk more about his current projects, his passion for storytelling, and what he hopes to accomplish throughout his career.
I’d like to begin by talking more about Good Night, Oscar. How excited are you for this production to make its Broadway debut?
It’s so crazy! This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever been involved with. I’m pinching myself every day, and I can’t believe I get to be a part of something like this with people who are my heroes. The play is smart and clever, and I’m humbled every day that I get to be there. I’m just like, holy crap! (Laughs).
Ultimately, what makes this show worth checking out?
First off, it features a magnificent performance by Sean Hayes. I think he’s going to change people’s perceptions of what they expect from him. He’s delivering this powerhouse Mama Rose of a performance, and I think the play itself is very touching and funny. It deals with mental health, the negative effects of being a celebrity, and the dark places from which we find our humor and coping mechanisms. I think it’s just a beautiful, beautiful play, and it doesn’t fall into the trappings of a lot of other bio plays. It takes this one little moment in Oscar Levant’s life and uses that moment to tell us these hilarious and profound universal truths.
Why did you want to be a part of this show, and what are you hoping to take away from this experience?
I love the whole world of 1950s films and television. It was a world that certainly had its problems, but there was also this sort of old Hollywood majesty to it that I find completely enchanting. So that, paired with the fact that it’s written by Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning playwright Doug Wright, who has written some of my favorite things like I Am My Own Wife, Grey Gardens, and War Paint.
The guy is brilliant, and then for this play to be led by Sean Hayes, who has been my idol since I was 12, I knew this was a world that was beckoning me to be a part of. I threw my hat in the ring, and I got very fortunate because the passion that I felt for the play when I auditioned for it, they felt that for me, and I’m lucky that it worked out that way.
I understand exactly what you mean about Sean Hayes. As a gay kid growing up watching Will & Grace, and seeing a character like Jack on TV, it did so much for representation.
Hugely! He was one of the first, if not the first, person who ever told me that I could be gay, proud, funny, and unabashed in my flamboyance. I feel like a lot of the ways that I’m funny, I sort of learned from watching Will & Grace during that formative moment in my life. I was like, “Look at that physical comedy!”
He captured my heart and imagination in very profound ways during such a formative moment in my life, so for my adult self to now be a part of something with Sean and to call him my co-worker and friend, it’s like, really? I don’t quite have the words for it, and I don’t know if I’m ever going to fully get over that because it’s very, very special to me.
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In Good Night, Oscar, you play Max Weinbaum. Can you tell us more about your character and how you wanted to approach this role?
Max Weinbaum, he’s a lot like Arpad in She Loves Me. It’s that kind of role, in that he’s funny, eager, and his whole thing is that he’s a huge fan of Hollywood and Oscar Levant, the man that Sean is playing. My whole thing is wanting to be around this celebrity, wanting to hear his stories, and wanting to soak up and learn all that I can, and Max is a new intern at The Tonight Show. That’s where this all takes place, and Oscar takes a faithful furlough from a mental health facility that he left to go appear on The Tonight Show.
So, I’m the new production assistant, and I love all things television, movies, and Oscar Levant. It’s pretty cool that it mirrors a lot of who I am, and a lot of my character is hanging out with Sean and saying, tell me stories, tell me more. I feel like I don’t have to do a lot of acting because I’m just eager and excited to be around him.
Have you always had a passion for acting and performing?
Yeah, I’ve loved it since I was a kid. I’m very lucky that I have parents, they’re not part of the business at all, but they always had an appreciation for the arts. They would take me to movies; they would take me to lots of the touring shows that came to the Palace Theater in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, and I’d see as many shows as I possibly could. Then, when I was about 6 years old, that’s when I could start auditioning for the youth theater. I was getting cast, and I found a family, community, and a way to express myself. Some other weirdos took me in as their own.
Some of your other theater credits include Spring Awakening, Bare, Waitress, and Wicked. What do you enjoy the most about performing live on stage?
I love how very alive it makes me feel. It can be terrifying, and I’ll sometimes still get stage fright and don’t want anybody to look at me, but I love feeling like the stakes are high, it’s up to me to connect with somebody, and share it outward. It takes me out of my own shell and neuroses, and it gets me to be a part of a team and community. It puts me in the position of being a storyteller, and that has helped me a lot.
How were you coping when COVID-19 shut Broadway down?
I love writing, that’s also been a huge part of my life, so when the shutdown happened, I really dove into my writing. One of my big philosophies in life is to not let anybody tell me whether or not I’m allowed to be creative, which is something I’ve struggled with a lot being an actor, and I think that’s why I dug in harder and harder into my writing.
When the shutdown happened, I was writing a musical with my friend Ben Fankhauser, and that ended up opening. We were the first new musical to open after the pandemic in 2021, A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet. You can hear that cast album now if you want, and then with Wesley Taylor, who’s my other writing partner, we wrote a movie called Summoning Sylvia.
So, I took all the grief that I felt, all the processing of feeling my opportunity slip away, because I certainly lost opportunities, and I certainly went through my periods of stress, sadness, and utter despair, but when the shutdown happens, I felt like I could charge myself to be as creative as I possibly could. It was really when everything came back when I had my meltdown. I saved it for later (laughs).
Of course, always stand out from the crowd! Circling back to Summon Sylvia, which is now available to stream, can you give us a rundown of it?
Summoning Sylvia is something I co-wrote and co-directed with Wesley Taylor, I must give half credit where that half credit is due, and it’s the story of a gay bachelor party that performs a séance. It’s spooky, it’s silly, and it’s all about our perceptions of other people and how that becomes the horror in our lives.
It’s nearly an all-queer cast, and even more importantly, it’s just so funny. I think everybody can appreciate it. Some of the best responses that we’ve had are from our straight test audiences, who seem to connect with it as well. It’s not an insular movie that’s only for one group of people. I feel like this could really be for a lot of folks, and I think there are a lot of thrills to be had in it.
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The film stars Travis Coles, Michael Urie, and Frankie Grande. What made them the perfect cast?
They’re just so funny, giving, warm, and they all wanted to come together to make something that we all believed in during this time when we were all sort of artistically starved coming out of the pandemic. We filmed this in the summer of 2021, so people came out of their lockdown to our set. It was not an easy time in the world, but it was awesome that we could all come together in this way and make something that felt unabashedly queer, fun, and suspenseful. We could all finally express ourselves after feeling this thirst of expression for so long.
Summoning Sylvia is your debut feature film, correct?
Yes, this is Wes and my first feature. We’ve previously done a digital series together called Indoor Boys, and you can see that on Here TV. Wes and I starred in it, wrote it, directed it, edited it—We were all the hats, and boy, were our heads heavy. We’ve had a great artistic relationship together for about six years now, and making this film together was our next step.
Would you like to do more work behind the camera?
Oh my God, absolutely! I love it so much. I love being creative and not acting in it, because then no one cares what I look like. That’s my favorite. My least favorite part of this business is when they’re like, “Alex, smile for the camera.” I shut down. A red carpet is hell on earth for me. I just really love the feeling of bringing folks together and telling queer stories that are, hopefully, told in a new way. Having queer characters that get to be anti-heroes. Having queer characters where it’s not all about their oppression, or even love.
Summoning Sylvia has almost nothing to do with relationships, getting together, or breaking up. We’ve seen so much of that. It’s great, useful, and a huge part of the queer experience, but so is just having friends and the little community that we’ve created. Something that also excites us about Summoning Sylvia is one of the big parts of the story. We’ve all seen these stories of a gay person who’s the only gay person in this straight world.
Like, the gay character in whatever romantic comedy you think of, and they’re making wisecracks in the corner. I’ve seen that movie a thousand times, and I’ve auditioned for that role 100 times. I never feel good about myself after, but with this, we wanted to create this gay world and what it would be like if a straight person came into that. So, we kind of turned that trope on its head in this story and played with our expectations in terms of that. That felt new and exciting.
What are some other future goals you hope to accomplish with your career?
Wes and I have two more screenplays, and we’re waiting to see which one we’re filming next. One of them is already optioned, so knock on wood, I think we will be filming something in the next year. Wes, and I also have a play that we wrote together, and I have a solo musical that I wrote, that I think I’ll be performing, against my better judgment, at some point. There are all these different writing projects that feel like stories I must tell. I hope as I go through my life, I’ll collect more stories and get the opportunity to keep telling them.
Would that be performing wise as well?
Yeah, it is. For something like Good Night, Oscar, the character feels like such an extension of who I am, and the aesthetic of the place speaks so well to the many things that I love, so it’s almost as if it’s partially my story, too. However, I like being a part of things where it’s my story that I’m telling. So, I’d be so happy to keep acting, but I’m not going to rely on that because it’s such a fickle profession.
I’m just going to do those things as they come up, and I’m very fortunate that this one is happening now. I needed a reason to start believing in myself again, and in between all those moments where people choose me or don’t choose me, I’m going to be working on the stories that I create and the stories that Wes and I create together. That way, there’s always creativity, a goal, a community to be formed, and new people to find.
Stay up-to-date and connect with Wyse by following him on Instagram @alexjwyse. For more information on Good Night, Oscar, visit goodnightoscar.com, and Summoning Sylvia is now available to stream on-demand.
Photos courtesy of Tyler Gustin, Matt Rodin, and Alex Wyse
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