Cregar read a copy of the play "Oscar Wilde" by Leslie and Sewell Stokes, which had been a great triumph for English actor Robert Morley. Cregar felt the lead role would be ideal for him, and he pitched the project to a number of producers. His proposal was eventually picked up by Arthur Hutchinson, who mounted the play in Los Angeles in April 1940 with Cregar. The production was a triumph for Cregar, the "Los Angeles Times" saying he "scored a sensational success." John Barrymore saw him and said he was one of the most gifted young stage actors in the past ten years.