★★★★★ “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.
Oh, Mary! is laugh-out-loud funny from the first moments; though much of the humor comes from Escola’s unbelievable delivery and the slapstick combination of actors on stage. But what makes Oh, Mary! such a fulfilling theatrical experience is that it also has a real message about the dangers of repression, both societal and personal. Letting people express themselves and live their truth may not solve every political problem, but it can certainly make life way more fun. Escola’s doing that, and the rest of us should too. Grade: A-
Second, the director Sam Pinkerton moves the show at such a lightning pace that we’re all on to the next laugh before you start to wonder about the merits of the one before or even dare to question the whole tawdry enterprise. Blackouts come so hard upon the lines of dialogue that the actors have to rush to get their gags out, which makes them all the funnier because it both raises the stakes and keys into one of the key ingredients of great farce: the mutual experience of the chaotic.
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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