David Jay and I saw Oh, Mary! on Broadway on July 29, 2024. It's a play written by and starring Cole Escola. I saw them (they use the pronoun "they") on The View and they said the inspiration for the play was the idea, "What if the assassination wasn't the worst thing for Mary Todd Lincoln?" In Escada's play, Mary Todd Lincoln is an alcoholic and an aspiring/thwarted cabaret performer. Can you even stand it.
The show played at a darling little theater in Greenwich Village earlier this year, from January to March. It was a hot ticket, what they refer to as a "sell-out run," though I don't really understand what that means. Precisely. It was such a smash that they moved it to Broadway.
The show started before the curtain went up. The darling little Lyceum Theatre was pumped up with appropriate music, like La Streisand singing "Gotta Move," The Merm singing her disco-fied version of "There's No Business Like Show Business," some dame singing a disco-fied version of "Tomorrow." It was high camp from the get go.
The word that came to mind within ten minutes was "madcap." Merriam-Webster defines madcap as "marked by capriciousness, recklessness, or foolishness." First, Messrs Merriam and Webster, thank you for your use of the serial comma. Second, that word is absolutely <<le mot juste>> for the frantic, insane energy of the play.
Most of the show takes place in the Oval Office in the last days of Lincoln's presidency. Abraham Lincoln (or, as he's listed in the program, Mary's Husband) was played by Conrad Ricamora. He was a riot. He had the right tone and maybe was even a little broader than the rest of the cast.
Cole Escola, as expected, got applause on their entrance. I don't want to give away too much of the plot so I'll tell you about just two bits. First, Escola really knows how to work a hoop skirt. Over and over again they spun around and the skirt did an exuberant sort of boing boing. I want to know how that hoop was constructed, I'm sure it had greater buoyancy than your typical hoop skirt. Second, one of the best recurring bits in the show featured Mary speaking to the portrait of George Washington over Lincoln's desk. She would say, "Oh Mother, how could you have let me marry this man!" She always addressed the portrait of Washington as "Mother" and it made me laugh out loud every time.
One surprise of the show is that there were a few genuinely touching moments. At one point Abe decides that it might calm Mary down by having her take acting lessons and of course she falls in love with her handsome young teacher. They had a little cuddle and some tender talk and it was sweet, intimate, genuinely touching. And it didn't feel incongruous to the madcap high jinks of the rest of the show.
The show was a scream and a hell of a lot of fun. The audience was a major participant - - our performance was sold out and the audience was laughing and cheering like there was no tomorrow. It was a thrill to see 37-year-old Escola giving their all in a project that (according to them) was not expected ever to play on Broadway. But I will say that I didn't quite drink the Kool-Aid, or at least not all of it. I enjoyed it but didn't feel like it was quite a hilarious as others. I am VERY curious to see what Escola does next. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were nominated for a Best Actor Tony, maybe also for Best Play.
I'm surprised, nay, shocked that Oh, Mary! doesn't have a trailer on YouTube. But Escola has been burning up the talk show circuit promoting this show...
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