Goodman Theatre's Education fundraiser features Sean Hayes of 'Will & Grace'

After hearing about Goodman Theatre nonprofit work such as introducing a high school curriculum on the plays of August Wilson and bringing tiny libraries to far south suburban Ford Heights, “Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes said he was “very impressed.

“It makes me want to get involved,” Hayes said in a featured conversation with NBC5 News Today co-anchor Zoraida Sambolin at Goodman’s “Legacy & Promise” luncheon February 5 to support its free education and engagement programs.

Goodman’s school matinee series trains Chicago teachers to use arts in every subject. Goodman serves 4,000 students and 100 teachers at 45 mostly Chicago Public Schools; 85 percent of participants are low-income. There are opportunities to do Disney musicals in schools; hands-on STEM learning through technical theater; the Cindy Bandle Young Critics program; summer programs in play-building and in acting, singing, dancing, storytelling and ensemble. For adults age 55+, there is the GeNarrations storytelling performance workshop.

Theatre education “is building people’s muscle to choose a different path,” the Goodman’s Walter Director of Education and Engagement Willa J. Taylor said. “Our legacy must be GoodWork to nurture the promise of a shining city.”

Raised in Glen Ellyn, Hayes would cut class and hang out at the theatre department of Glenbard West High School. “I felt safe there, safe from judgment. That’s what theatre does for kids.”

Hayes advises friends with kids to put their children through improv, which he learned at Second City. “It builds confidence in kids and makes them fearless.”

Comedy began for him, Hayes said, when he was 5 and his Irish Catholic father left the family. His late mother, Mary Hayes, raised him and his four siblings alone. She also helped start the Bethlehem Center, which is now the Northern Illinois Food Bank, based in Geneva.

Was he anything like his campy gay character Jack McFarland on “Will & Grace,” Sambolin asked.

“I’m type A, business-minded, driven, ambitious,” he responded. Hayes won a Primetime Emmy Award, four SAG Awards and six Golden Globe nominations as Jack during the 1998-2006 run of “Will & Grace.” The show did a 12-episode revival in 2017.

Since he was in his late 20s when the show began, did he feel the burden of trying to change attitudes?

“I never allowed myself to,” responded Hayes, who came out to his family at age 18. “I felt there were people who were better suited to do that. We would get death threats on the show. But I should have pushed aside my own fears to help the community that needed my help.” Hayes is now married to Scott Icenogle, who composed the music for “Will & Grace.”

He said later, “If you love what you do, you have already won. Nothing else matters if you can contribute to society.”

Goodman Artistic Director Robert Halls announced at the luncheon that Hayes will portray composer/raconteur Oscar Levant in “Good Night, Oscar,” a world premiere next year. Written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Doug Wright (“I Am My Own Wife,” “War Paint,”) and directed by Tony nominated Leigh Silverman, the plot will center on Levant’s four-hour pass from a mental ward to appear on the Jack Paar Show in 1958.