Trans star Bianca Leigh is Cole Escola’s secret weapon in ‘Oh, Mary!’
Cole Escola’s historical comedy Oh, Mary! that I thought if it isn’t truly hilarious, my head will instead explode from resentment.
Fortunately, I did get a serious case of the guffaws on catching the show’s recent Broadway transfer, so all’s good. As deftly directed by Sam Pinkleton, the intermissionless farce dares to be insouciant, silly, outrageous, and even insightful.
The lines are fine and the line readings are even better. Escola is a scream as Mary Todd Lincoln, the deranged First Lady who longs to return to the cabaret stage, though hubby (Conrad Ricamora) wants no mention of that, since any connection to cabaret makes him sound like the gay that he is.
A handsome acting teacher for Mary (James Scully) complicates things, and so does Mary’s chaperone, Louise (Bianca Leigh)—an invented character who’s prone to odd revelations, as well as walking into other people’s odd revelations.
