Theater Review by Adam Cohen . . .
Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! is unadulterated hysteria. Stop reading now and book your tickets.
Escola brilliantly subverts history and creates an indelible view of the Lincoln White House. President Lincoln (Fire Island and Here Lies Love’s Conrad Ricamora) just wants someone to distract his wife so he can win the war. Mary (Escola) zips around desperately searching for alcohol, pushing people down stairs and wielding her harridan personality like a vicious harpy.
Here Mary is no Presidential wife, ready to step in and help with any campaign. She’s the ultimate real housewife, readying for a fight, preening for any and all attention. And in the hands of Escola, with a deft Carol Burnett-like verve, she’s hysterical. This is comedy comfort food: political, queer . . . and wisely apt for our times.
Teasing and torturing her lady companion Louise (Bianca Leigh) while pining for her pre-White House cabaret star life—“a rather well-known niche cabaret legend,” as Mary puts it. “People traveled the world over for my short legs and long medleys.” Her husband sees it differently. As he later reveals, “She was never a star. She sang for six nights in an animal variety show that she paid to be a part of. Audiences hated her.”
Mary refuses all suggestions from Abe for activities, save for acting lessons, which appeal to her narcissism. Keeping Mary busy allows a closeted, horny Abe to take advantage of an underling while bargaining with God to “never do anything homosexual again” in exchange for winning the Civil War.
Design collective dots’ sets are clever, and the costumes are by Holly Pierson in this Broadway production. Cha See’s lighting and Daniel Kluger’s and Drew Levy’s sound design are top-notch. Director Sam Pinkleton keeps the mayhem purring with raucous mayhem.
The winning cast hits the gags with verve and aplomb. They deftly balance farce and political comedy with richly achieved belly laughter. This is a smart, hysterical evening of theater, well worth whatever price you have to pay.
Oh, Mary! Through September 15 at The Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues). www.ohmaryplay.com
Photos: Emilio Madrid
