By Lindsay B. Davis
Like a couple who won’t admit they met on Tinder, Abe Lincoln of Cole Escola’s Tony Award-winning Oh, Mary! insists his wife, Mary Todd (originated by Cole, performed by an electric Jane Krakowski on the night I attended), doesn’t dare repeat to anyone they met at her cabaret performance. Cabaret being a contemptible, unserious art form, Abe instead offers a cover:
“We fell in love at a dance in Illinois. That’s the story!”
Well, that “story” is only the beginning. Under the guise of a dignified, wartime president, Abe also pretends to be a harmonious husband while referring to his First Lady as “that f*cking witch,” frivolously asks God to forgive his homosexual urgings like he’s singing Sabrina Carpenter, and blows smoke when interrupted mid-blowjob from a male aide underneath his office desk.
It is no wonder Mary is an unhappy, self-proclaimed drunk!
Misunderstood and on a mission to liberate herself by returning to the only true love she’s ever known— her “madcap melodies” of cabarets past—Mary must face the central tension of Abe’s objection. Offered a string of unsatisfying, alternative hobbies that don’t include whiskey, she accepts Abe’s best option: acting lessons with the handsome, Shakespeare-spouting John, as in John Wilkes Booth, who, in this fantasy that never claims to be factual, also happens to be queer and in love with the President.
The 2025 Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play went to Escola for this satirical, farcical, supremely well-executed comedy, and the success hasn’t stopped since. Broadway audiences are obsessed with whoever sashays into their favorite diva’s hoop skirt (among them Tituss Burgess, Betty Gilpin, and Jinkx Monsoon). Last December, the play premiered in the West End, starring Mason Alexander Park. Up next is John Cameron Mitchell in the title role and Simu Liu as Mary’s Teacher, which makes any Oh, Mary! Broadway review a moving target.
The 39-year-old Escola, who returned to the role for a few months last year, is now slated to pen a new film about Miss Piggy, great news following the prima donna’s underwhelming Broadway debut. Escola, who is sober and grew up in rural Oregon with a father whose PTSD and alcoholism led to a traumatic family rupture, may have written touches of themself onto the stage, as when Mary says, “Sometimes three continuous decades of quiet but unrelenting emotional pain can lead to something… pretty cool.” To say the least.
5 out of 5 stars
It wants better content.
Fast facts: ‘Oh, Mary!’
From Jane Krakowski to Simu Liu, Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! has become Broadway’s hottest ticket for a reason.
- Lyceum Theatre, 149 West 45th Street, New York City
- Running time: 80 minutes, no intermission
Find the best hotels in the Theatre District near the Lyceum
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