There’s a new administration in power at the Lyceum Theatre!
Tony winner John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and film star Simu Liu (Barbie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) are currently starring in Cole Escola’s hit Broadway comedy Oh, Mary!.
Mitchell takes on the cabaret-obsessed former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, while Liu portrays her devoted — and slightly bewildered — acting teacher.
Spectrum News NY1 entertainment journalist Frank DiLella recently caught up with the pair just before curtain to talk — for Mitchell, keeping Hedwig’s torch burning bright, and for Liu, fulfilling a lifelong Broadway dream.
How’s it going over at the Lyceum?
John Cameron Mitchell: It seems to be getting better and better. And Simu and I have realized we’re able to listen to each other more now that we know where we stand. Now that I know what’s going on, I watch him — and I think you’re pretty damn funny. And I’m even more in love as Mary.
Simu Liu: It’s great to just trust that you know the words so that you can be fully present in the moment. It’s quite fun just doing it a little different every night and getting to experience the surprises that come up organically. It’s a lot of fun doing it.
Simu, you’ve had your eye on Broadway for some time.
SL: I first saw Oh, Mary! in October. My agent Kevin Lin at CAA reached out — we had been conspiring to make our Broadway debut for a while now — and he said, “I think you need to see Oh, Mary!” I said, “I heard great things.” And I saw it, and I was like, not only must I be in Oh, Mary!, I must play Mary’s Teacher! To me it felt like the most surprising and fun role there was for an actor like me. It came into my life at the perfect time. I was looking to spread my wings and do something challenging, something I had never done before.
Your character’s name is Mary’s Teacher. For folks who have not seen the show yet, what can you reveal about Mary’s Teacher?
SL: [Laughs.] I think that he’s there to give Mary Todd…can we say acting lessons? He takes his craft very seriously. And he gets caught up in Mary Todd Lincoln’s life. And I think I’ve said a little too much.
John, I feel like your work and Cole’s work go hand in hand. When were you first introduced to Cole Escola?
JCM: I’ve always looked up to Cole — and down on them too. [Laughs.] They’re just a little shorter than me. When Cole hit town with Jeffery Self, one of their mentors was Eric Gilliland, who was one of my mentors in college. He was a showrunner of Roseanne. But at Northwestern, in college, he taught me about improv comedy. To me it was Cole’s show —Jeffery and Cole Casserole [2009] — where I was like, “What the hell is this?” It seemed like the kind of thing you wanted to see on TV: It was kind of punk, it was queer, and strange. It was on the Logo channel, which they were obviously trying to avoid saying they were queer in their title. There was none of that problem with Cole, who was as queer as they come. And I just watched Cole’s work strengthen and get more structured and more brilliant in cabaret and film stuff and other people’s shows. And I was just so excited when Oh, Mary!, which was sort of a fluke for the makers, became the thing that hit. I think people are desperate for full laughter right now. I am thrilled to be part of the same community as Cole and other friends where we’ve made stuff that came from downtown — a punkier vibe — and are bringing it uptown.
What was it like rehearsing the kind of comedy Oh, Mary! calls for and getting it into your bones?
SL: It’s amazing how many laughs we’re able to find in the moment. And sometimes our stage manager team will say, “Hey, that’s never happened in an Oh, Mary! show before.” That’s my favorite thing to hear. Between John and the rest of our cast, there are so many moments that we can mine. It’s important to let the text do the heavy lifting and not get in its way. Two nights ago before our places call, John said to me, “I’m going to try something tonight and I’m not going to tell you what it is.” And then when it happened on stage, I almost lost it. It was so funny. We are discovering moments every single day.
JCM: We love to tinker under the hood of Oh, Mary! Like, what can we do to soup it up over here? I call it the science of comedy. I think it’s fun to have your own chemistry but not messing up what’s already working and what’s already there. People are also nostalgically loving this show because they love Mel Brooks movies and Carol Burnett.
John, I keep picturing Hedwig passing the torch to Mary Todd Lincoln. You gave the stage one of its most iconic queer characters in Hedwig — and in a bold and wild way, Cole seems to be doing something just as indelible with Mary Todd.
JCM: Yes. And there are actors who have played both Mary Todd and Hedwig. Like Jinkx Monsoon, and Mason Alexander Park in London. To me it’s like you can borrow DNA from other things that you’ve done. I’m so excited that Mary is flexible enough for all kinds of folks to play. Catherine Tate was just announced in London — she’s a brilliant comic genius. We’ve got an exciting next cast after us, which we can’t talk about yet. Mary is now like Hello, Dolly! where people can do different things with it and hopefully there will be a performance where all the Marys and all of Mary’s Teachers will be on stage doing all the lines at the same time. [Laughs.]
Simu, there’s nothing like the Broadway community. This is your first time being a part of it. What has been your favorite thing thus far?
SL: I think just how wonderfully supportive everyone has been. It’s such an antithetical ecosystem to a lot of what I felt in L.A. L.A. is a city with wonderful weather and it’s a city that I call home, but it can be lonely. I just feel this overwhelming warmth and support from the theater community. I feel genuine caring and love for one another existing in their own truth. It’s a community that’s enveloped me. And it’s the most fun I’ve had professionally in a really long time.
The Oh, Mary! portraits are so special — and hysterical. I remember Jane Krakowski telling me how excited she was to have hers done. What story were you hoping your portrait would tell? What’s the Oh, Mary! subtext behind it?
JCM: I love how kind of morose the pictures are. People didn’t smile a lot back then, and Mary didn’t have a lot to smile about. Jinkx is very much like “I’m about to pass out.” Cole’s is “I smelled something bad.” Mine is “What am I doing here?” I love that feeling. So I thought my Mary should be looking into the abyss.
SL: What was Mary’s Teacher thinking? “Finally, my name on a poster!” [Laughs.] It was a really cool moment for me personally. I’ve always dreamt about being on Broadway. And getting that done was like, “You’re here and it’s happening!”
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?
John Cameron Mitchell will be in the role of Mary Todd Lincoln through Sunday, April 26. Simu Liu will be in the role of Mary’s Teacher through Tuesday, April 21. They are joined by continuing cast members John-Andrew Morrison (Mary’s Husband), Jenn Harris (Mary’s Chaperone) and Tony Macht (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.
