★★★★★ “An instant classic.” – Time Out New York
Oh, Mary! is a dark comedy about a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Unrequited yearning, alcoholism, and suppressed desires abound in this 80-minute one-act play that finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln, through the lens of an idiot (playwright Cole Escola).
Declared “one of the best comedies in years” by The New York Times, Oh, Mary! has been heralded as the funniest play on Broadway by the New York Post, Entertainment Weekly, Variety, Time Out New York, and The Guardian. “It’s a bona fide phenomenon,” raves The Wall Street Journal, and Variety calls it “unquestionably the funniest, gayest, campiest play Broadway has seen in years.”
Oh, Mary! is now extended through June 29, 2025. Cole Escola dons the bratty curls through January 19, and Emmy nominee Betty Gilpin (“GLOW,” “Mrs. Davis”) stars as Mary Todd Lincoln beginning January 21 through March 16.
A ribald cartoon more hysterical than historical, Oh, Mary! sheds unexpected light upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and represents the latest generation of gender bent comical entertainment known as camp. Elder viewers reared on the comparatively subtle writing and performance style of Charles Busch are likely to find Escola’s slapdash artistry crude, but there’s no denying he snags laughs.
The most controversial cabaret in town might be happening at the August Wilson Theatre, but the best one is at the Lyceum. There, Cole Escola’s riotous, extremely faux-historical farce, Oh, Mary!, has begun its Broadway run, and long may it reign. Oh, Mary! took the West Village deliriously captive in its big gay pirate ship back in the spring, and while the wickedly clever Escola — who made their name first on YouTube playing wonderfully unhinged characters, then as a scene-stealer on shows like Search Party and Difficult People — is on record calling the uptown transfer “a mistake,” they and director Sam Pinkleton have wisely left funny enough alone. Really, far more than enough — Oh, Mary! is hilarious and, underneath the mayhem, both structurally rock solid and sneakily moving. It may be playing the palace now, but it’s confident enough in its own skin to have resisted any sort of unnecessary makeover.
2024 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
2024 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play | Conrad Ricamora |
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