This week we take a look at shows nominated for 2025 Tony Awards.
NEW YORK听鈥 When Cole Escola makes an opening announcement as Blythe Danner about the theater鈥檚 鈥渕ostly functioning鈥 urinals, you know 鈥淥h, Mary!鈥 isn鈥檛 going to be another romp through the Civil War.
Cole Escola plays Mary Todd Lincoln in the comedy, "Oh, Mary!" Escola was nominated for Best Actor and Best Play for his work.听
Instead, it鈥檚 an extremely clever revision of an insider鈥檚 story, showing what Mary Todd Lincoln (Escola) was thinking when her husband was trying to stop the war between the North and the South.
In short, she wants a career as a cabaret artist, but he won鈥檛 hear of it听鈥 鈥淲e鈥檙e in a war,鈥 he insists.
Abe (Conrad Ricamora) figures she could take acting lessons and find a place on the legitimate stage. Her teacher: John Wilkes Booth.
Abraham Lincoln (Conrad Ricamora), left, summons a soldier in the comedy, "Oh, Mary!"听
To reveal anymore would spoil what must be the most laugh-filled show now on Broadway. It plays out on one set (give or take a few changes) and lets hoop skirts and Escola鈥檚 tightly wound curls do much of the work.
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Directed by Sam Pinkleton, 鈥淥h, Mary!鈥 looks simple but that鈥檚 the charm of Escola鈥檚 script. This isn鈥檛 just a domestic comedy. It鈥檚 the kind of revisionist history a teacher would embrace after reading a stack of essays culled from Wikipedia. Escola has such inspired ideas they make perfect sense 鈥 and play out in the time it takes to watch a TikTok video.
Escola, in fact, got a reputation with quick videos, branched into television shows and now has this incredible showcase that hits on all cylinders. Interestingly, Escola approaches the always-drinking Mary Todd as a spoiled March sister, as seen through the eyes of Amy Adams. There鈥檚 a hint of Scarlett Johansson here and there, but this works because it鈥檚 not a based-in-fact anything.
From left, Conrad Ricamora, Cole Escola and Bianca Leigh star in "Oh, Mary!," which has five Tony nominations.
Ricamora turns the tables on Abe, too, suggesting he鈥檚 distraught by everything shoved his way and can only find solace in the company of someone who isn鈥檛 a relative.
Toss in Mary鈥檚 friend (Bianca Leigh) and that teacher (James Scully) and just about anything can happen 鈥 and does.
Thanks to Escola鈥檚 brilliance, this isn鈥檛 a Carol Burnett parody of 鈥淕one With the Wind.鈥 It鈥檚 proof great things can happen if you only put your mind to it.
The Tony Awards air Sunday night on CBS.
