Comedian and actor Bowen Yang is starring in his favorite play of all time. Just check his Playbill bio — or better yet, ask him.
“It has everything in it. And Tony Kushner agrees with me. This is literature.”
The play in question is Oh, Mary!, and Yang is making his Broadway stage debut, donning the signature curls and hoop skirt of Mary Todd Lincoln, the cabaret-obsessed former First Lady of the United States.
“It is about a woman’s quest for freedom at the hands of the man who ended slavery. It’s basically what the show is. It doesn’t get more theatrical and grand and dramatic and funny and ironic and tragic than that,” says Yang.
Yang follows nearly a dozen performers who have stepped into the role originated by the Tony-winning show’s creator, Cole Escola. And Yang’s admiration for Escola goes back years.
“I think I fell in love when I saw Cole’s Bernadette Peters impression,” he says. “And then I would see Cole very organically out at these sort of queer hangouts among comedians and performers at the Upright Citizens Brigade.”
While Oh, Mary! marks Yang’s Broadway debut, he’s hardly a stranger to the theater community. This past season, he coproduced the Céline Dion–meets-Titanic parody musical, Titanique, and hosted the 2026 Jimmy Awards, celebrating the next generation of Broadway talent. And now, stepping into the spotlight himself, Yang says the experience has deepened his appreciation for the art form.
“I think through the preparation for the show especially, I’ve learned that you have no choice but to be emotionally available for all of it. You have no choice but to show up, be present, whether that’s in the audience or in the crew or in any other capacity in theater. Everybody who is involved in that arrangement has to be open to something.”
As for preparing to play the boozy former First Lady, Yang turned to someone who knows a thing or two about comedy and Escola’s work: fellow Saturday Night Live alum Maya Rudolph, who took on the role earlier this summer.
“I think my challenge was just not getting in my own way in terms of my take on it. I came in, I saw Maya do it, and I was like, ‘I think these are my ideas on the take.’ And then she was like, ‘I don’t think you have to worry about that.’ And then as I started rehearsals, it was the same thing, where everyone was like, ‘Just say the words that are on the page and it’ll work.’”
Yang is slated to remain with the production through January. And with Oh, Mary! becoming something of a revolving door for exciting star casting, who would he like to see slip into
Mary’s hoop skirt next?
He didn’t hesitate.
Two names: Keke Palmer and Lisa Rinna.
“[Palmer] would be phenomenal. Especially since she is an actor’s actor. [And Rinna because] she’s in that intersection of reality and soap that I think fits in a very similar register as just the Mary Todd sort of almost clowny aspect of it.”
Only on Broadway could a former First Lady inspire a wish list that includes a Hollywood powerhouse and a Real Housewife. And yours truly? I’m here for ALL of it.
Frank DiLella is the host of On Stage on Spectrum News NY1.
What is Oh, Mary! on Broadway about?
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! received Tony Awards for Best Leading Actor in a Play (Cole Escola) and Best Direction of a Play (Sam Pinkleton), Drama League Awards for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Direction of a Play, as well as a special citation from the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. It was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Who is in the cast of Oh, Mary! on Broadway?
The cast of Oh, Mary! on Broadway features Bowen Yang as Mary Todd Lincoln, Barrett Foa as Mary’s Teacher, Phillip James Brannon as Mary’s Husband, Bianca Leigh as Mary’s Chaperone and Tony Macht as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant.
Who is on the creative team of Oh, Mary! on Broadway?
Oh, Mary! was written by Cole Escola and directed by Sam Pinkleton. The creative team also includes scenic design by dots, costume design by Holly Pierson, lighting design by Cha See, sound design by Daniel Kluger and Drew Levy, wig design by Leah J. Loukas, music by Daniel Kluger, arrangements by David Dabbon, production stage management by John C. Moore, and casting by Henry Russell Bergstein, CSA.
Where can I buy tickets to Oh, Mary! on Broadway?
Tickets can be found here on Broadway Direct, an official ticket seller of Oh, Mary!.
