Oh, Mary! is the extremely ahistorical brainchild of comedian Cole Escola, who originated the starring role. Escola did not do an ounce of research on the real Mary Todd or Abraham Lincoln before writing the play, a fact that becomes clear within minutes of the curtain rising. Oh, Mary!‘s version of the first lady is a deranged, cabaret-obsessed alcoholic who deeply resents her closeted husband—the guy who also happens to be the president (currently played by Phillip James Brannon).
“Oh, Mary! blew me away when I saw it on Broadway,” Burgess said in a statement, per Deadline. “Cole Escola is a genius. The show is fresh and impossibly funny. I understand the role of Mary Todd Lincoln maybe a little too well. I’m over the moon with joy that I get to join the company at The Lyceum Theatre.”
The show has been incredibly successful since it transferred to Broadway last July. In a figure that would probably delight the fictionalized Mary Todd a little too much, Oh, Mary! was the first show in the Lyceum’s 121-year history to gross more than $1 million in a single week (per Deadline). It has since broken its own box office record 11 times —a record of its own—and recouped its full investment—approximately $4,525,000—in November.
Mary Todd is currently played by Betty Gilpin. (You can read about one of her not-so-revered films, The Hunt, here.) The show also currently stars Bianca Leigh as Mary Todd’s chaperone, Tony Macht as the president’s assistant, and Chris Renfro as Mary’s theater teacher. (No spoilers, but if you buy tickets you may recognize his character as well.) Burgess begins his run on March 18.
