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Betty Gilpin
Betty Gilpin

For Betty Gilpin, Coming to Broadway in Oh, Mary! is A Dream Come True

There’s a new First Lady in town! Three-time Emmy Award nominee Betty Gilpin is stepping into the shoes — and lacing up the hoop skirt — of Mary Todd Lincoln in Cole Escola’s hit farce Oh, Mary! Gilpin, best known for her work on the TV series Glow, takes over for Escola as the cabaret-obsessed wife of Abraham Lincoln. Entertainment journalist for Spectrum News NY1 Frank DiLella recently caught up with Gilpin and her director Sam Pinkleton to discuss her starring role in one of the hottest shows of the 2024–2025 Broadway season. Gilpin also shared why she’s calling her big debut a “full-circle moment” for her family.


Sam, congratulations! Oh, Mary! is a smash hit!

SAM PINKLETON: When we were talking a year ago, the thought that we would still be running and running on Broadway was not fathomable. It wasn’t remotely on the radar. But since we moved to Broadway when I go into that theatre, I love being in a packed room of people rolling with laughter. It makes sense — people need a laugh!

Celebrated actress Betty Gilpin is about to step into the “character shoes” of Mary Todd Lincoln. How will this show work with another actor? So much of Cole is in the role of Mary Todd Lincoln. 

SP: From my position, the not-so-secret secret is that Cole wrote an extraordinary play. It’s a tight, sharp, well-structured old-fashioned comedy. And these don’t come along very often. And at the center of this good old-fashioned play is a great part. One of the great parts! I hate to sound boring, but it’s a protagonist who is in an incredibly high-stakes situation with great need. Very early on in the process, long before we imagined there would be a world where Cole would be replaced, we started talking about how excited we would be to see other people do it.

Speaking of taking over for Cole, let’s bring in Betty Gilpin. Betty, you majored in theater in college at Fordham University at Lincoln Center, but you have been very busy working in the TV and film world. This is your Broadway debut. How are you feeling?

BETTY GILPIN: It’s beyond my wildest dreams. I have the privilege of making faces in costumes for a living [on screen] and I’ve sort of put Broadway out of my “dream mind.” I’m a mom and I just kind of thought Broadway is too wild of a dream and doesn’t make sense. And then this summer I was playing Lucretia Garfield, who was the First Lady to James Garfield, who was president in 1881. I was doing a miniseries about him. And I was literally in a petticoat and bustle sitting in a set of the Oval Office, sitting across from a Lincoln bust, and my agent texted me with “Would you be interested in going in for Oh, Mary!?” And my hands started shaking and I wrote back “What … part …?” And I saw the ellipses as he was texting, and my eyes filled with tears, and I thought, “He’s going to write ‘Mary.’ And when it came through, I completely burst into tears. I saw the show downtown at the [Lucille] Lortel [Theatre], and like everyone else, I’m obsessed with it. And I can’t believe I get to do this.

SP: Betty is someone who Cole and I have admired for years and years. She’s one of those people, whenever I see her, I think, “Oh, she’s the best one in it!” She’s managed to be so weird and funny and singular for a long time. When her name came up, she was the one where Cole and I in unison were like, “Of course it’s Betty Gilpin!”

Betty, what was your audition process like?

BG: I didn’t audition. It came out of the air, which is not my star meter level. So, I don’t know what they’re thinking. [Laughs.]

Conrad Ricamora and Cole Escola in Oh, Mary!. Photo by Emilio Madrid.
Conrad Ricamora and Cole Escola in Oh, Mary!. Photo by Emilio Madrid.

What has Cole shared with you about tackling Mary?

BG: While it’s silly and ridiculous and over the top, Cole has also written — just pure bones-wise — a brilliant play and has provided a map for Mary right there on the page. It’s a delusional river moving 6 million miles per hour and you just have to jump in, and the play takes you. I’ve never been more afraid and more sure of something. There is a Mary in all of us, and I’m going to do mine.

What’s your rehearsal process like?

BG: It’s quick, Frank! [Laughs.] Six rehearsals! I called my dad [actor Jack Gilpin] when I got the part and I told him I’m so excited to be on Broadway. And he said, “What theatre?” And I said, “The Lyceum.” And there was a pause on the phone and he said, “In 1978, I made my Broadway debut in Players at the Lyceum as an understudy and I went on one night.” So, any time I start freaking out — especially that first night — I’m going to be thinking about my dad in 1978 standing in the same wing with his heart pounding out of his chest. This experience feels like a full-circle Gilpin moment.

Speaking of your father, you come from a showbiz family. Your mother is also an actress: Ann McDonough. What was their reaction when they found out you are going to make your Broadway debut as the title character in the hottest play on Broadway?

BG: They’re incredibly excited. What I’m most excited about is that they haven’t seen the show. I was going to take my mom for her birthday in September, and then I got the part. So, I said — no offense to Cole — but I want my mom to see me and have no idea what the show is about when she comes to see me. [Laughs.] And my husband too! Cole and I announced my casting together on Morning Joe on MSNBC and my husband, who knows nothing about Oh, Mary!, asked, “Because you’re on Morning Joe, is it a political show?” And I said, “Yes. It’s very political.” So I have him thinking it’s a serious political drama.

I remember Cole telling me about the comedic artists they look up to, folks like Amy Sedaris, Tina Fey, and Cheri Oteri. Who do you look up to? Who inspires you?

BG: When it comes to comedy, Lisa Kudrow is a big one. Julia Louis-Dreyfus. I was just rewatching Gone With the Wind in preparation for Oh, Mary!, and Vivien Leigh may not have known it, but she’s a comedic genius. And honestly, Cole has been on my Mount Rushmore for years.

Sam, as an artist, I love your work and how you tackle things both as a choreographer and director. What weird things were you obsessed with at a young age that still inspire you as a professional artist?

SP: The Wizard of Oz. I watched The Wizard of Oz every single day from age 2 to 10. It’s such a basic little gay-boy story but it defined my childhood, and it was my best friend. Also, The Muppet Show. Those remain my favorite things to this day. And Annie!

This play is a celebrity magnet. Every time I’ve been in the audience, I’ve spotted a celeb. Who are you dying to meet backstage?

SP: I still want to meet Grace Jones and Cher. I heard Donna Murphy came — I was pretty excited about that.

BG: Honestly, I’m most excited for my mom to see it. There is so much of my mom in Oh, Mary! And also, my toddler — whose name is Mary, by the way. And Sam Pinkleton demands that I call her Mary Toddler. But honestly, I don’t think she can see this one.

Can’t your husband hold her up in the back of the house?  

BG: I mean, it’s definitely not appropriate for a 3-year-old. But maybe in the last five minutes she can come in and see? [Laughs.]

Learn More About Oh, Mary!