But there is far more to admire about this deliriously funny comedy, now playing at the Lyceum Theatre, than its lean runtime. It is also a show that is nearly impossible to write about without spoiling its many pleasures—but rest assured, I won’t be giving anything away.

All you truly need to know going in are the barest bones of American history: Mary Todd Lincoln was married to Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre shortly after the Civil War’s end. Those facts are the launching pad for the gleefully unhinged imagination of Cole Escola, who wrote and originally starred in the play during its Off-Broadway premiere before shepherding it to Broadway triumph.

Escola’s fever-dream reimagining of Mary Todd Lincoln as a cabaret-obsessed, booze-soaked, chronically dissatisfied First Lady is both outrageous and oddly precise. The show became an instant sensation. At the 2025 Tony Awards, Oh, Mary! earned five nominations and won two major awards: Best Leading Actor in a Play for Escola and Best Direction of a Play for director Sam Pinkleton, cementing its status as both a critical darling and a commercial hit. It was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize—no small feat for a comedy this gleefully irreverent.

In Escola’s deliriously sharp work of historical fiction, Mary Todd Lincoln emerges not as the marbleized widow of textbooks, but as a restless, thwarted woman marooned in the White House. This Mary is bored to the brink of combustion—trapped in a marriage that offers little romance and even less stimulation. Her true passions are unapologetically theatrical: cabaret and cocktails, preferably in generous supply.  Instead, her days are regimented by well-meaning distractions orchestrated by her husband and dutifully enforced by her long-suffering chaperone, Louise.  While the nation fractures under the strain of war, the President’s domestic front proves no less volatile. Keeping Mary occupied becomes a strategic necessity, not merely a marital courtesy. The only attempt at distracting her that works comes in the form of a handsome acting coach who tries to instruct her on the nuances of Shakespeare, while the president tends to the nation. And yet, for all his burdens of state, Lincoln is not immune to diversions of his own. 

What unfolds onstage is a riot of anachronism, camp, and razor-sharp comic writing that feels both exhilarating and cathartic.  The premise may be absurd, but the craftsmanship is anything but. It skewers history, gender roles, political mythology, and theatrical pretension with equal abandon, all while delivering laugh lines at machine-gun pace. Every joke lands with sniper precision; every beat propels the story forward. The humor is at once theatrical and subversive, drawing on queer idiom and historical satire without ever collapsing under the weight of either.

Currently donning Mary’s voluminous hoop skirts is the incomparable John Cameron Mitchell, who steps into the role with fearless physicality and delicious abandon. Beloved for creating and starring in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Mitchell understands camp at a cellular level. His Mary is petulant, preposterous, and perversely lovable—commanding the stage so completely that her brief absences are genuinely felt.

Opposite him, Simu Liu—who first won audiences over in Kim’s Convenience—makes his Broadway debut and brings effortless charm and sly wit to his role, serving as an ideal counterbalance to Mary’s innate chaos. The supporting ensemble matches them beat for beat. Regularly rounding out the onstage quartet are John-Andrew Morrison as Mary’s beleaguered husband, Jenn Harris as the indispensable chaperone Louise, and Tony Macht as the Husband’s Assistant.  Though at the performance I saw the superb Hannah Solow, who has sometimes stepped into the role of Mary herself, performed the role of Louise, while Martin Landry stepped in as Abe’s assistant. The entire ensemble creates a comic ecosystem in which every raised eyebrow and tossed-off aside matters.

Part of the joy of Oh, Mary! has been hearing about the parade of bold performers cycling through the title role since Escola’s departure, each bringing a distinct flavor while honoring the play’s ferocious spirit. They’ve included Titus Burgess, Jinx Monsoon, and Jane Krokowski. Mitchell inhabits the role of Mary Todd Lincoln for a 12-week limited engagement through April 26, 2026.  With recent big announcements on both sides of the Atlantic—including a West End production that promises its own fireworks when comic legend Catherine Tate helms the cast and a US Tour announced starting this fall—the show’s life feels far from over.  Indeed, Oh, Mary! seems destined for a long and raucous afterlife in regional theaters and beyond. 

Oh, Mary is the rare comedy that feels both of-the-moment and timeless—a bracing blast of unapologetic, unbridled camp joy. In an era of cultural exhaustion and relentless headlines, it offers catharsis through laughter. And that may be its most subversive act of all.