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Kumail Nanjiani and Michael Urie will join the Broadway cast of Oh, Mary! alongside the previously announced Jinkx Monsoon next month, producers announced today.

Beginning August 4 and running through September 28, Nanjiani will play Mary’s Husband and Urie will be Mary’s Teacher to Monsoon’s Mary Todd Lincoln. Also new to the show will be Jenn Harris, taking on the role of Mary’s Chaperone.

Oh, Mary! marks the Broadway debuts of Nanjiani and Harris, who take over for exiting original cast members Conrad Ricamora and Bianca Leigh. Urie, fresh off his 2025 Emmy Award nomination for Shrinking, replaces original cast member James Scully.

Jenn Harris Stephan Schacher

The new cast was announced today by producers Kevin McCollum & Lucas McMahon and Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia.

Another original cast member, Tony Macht...

Jinkx Monsoon will take over the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in Broadway’s smash hit comedy Oh, Mary! for an eight-week engagement beginning in August, producers announced.

Also today, producers announced that the show’s Broadway run has been extended, with tickets now on sale through January 4. (Tickets previously had been on sale through September 24.)

Monsoon’s turn in the bratty curl ringlet wig follows an encore six-week engagement by Tituss Burgess, who had played Mrs. Lincoln earlier this spring when the role’s originator Cole Escola took a temporary break. Escola, the play’s writer, just won a Tony Award for their performance as the president’s desperate wife.

Escola’s final performance is on June 21. Co-stars Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Bianca Leigh and Tony Macht will remain with the show through August 2.

Monsoon, the RuPaul’s Drag Race alum who is currently on Broadway in Pirates! The...

Cole Escola, creator of the Broadway hit comedy Oh, Mary!, will return to star in their show as Mary Todd Lincoln, and will bring the rest of the original cast – including Conrad Ricamora (‘Mary’s Husband’) and James Scully (‘Mary’s Teacher’) – along with them.

Producers announced today that beginning Tuesday, April 8, the full Oh, Mary! original cast will be back in the show at the Lyceum Theatre. Escola, Ricamora and Scully left the show at various times in recent months for what turns out to be temporary leaves. The show, once a regular sell-out week after week, has seen declines in attendance and ticket sales since Escola’s departure in January.

Oh, Mary! currently stars Betty Gilpin as Mary Todd Lincoln, with Tituss Burgess set to play the role of Mary Todd Lincoln from March 18 through April 6. Other cast members currently on board are Phillip James Brannon, Chris Renfro...

Cole Escola is returning to the lead role in Oh, Mary! on Broadway.

Escola, who originated the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in the play, will return to the role starting April 8. Conrad Ricamora, who plays Mary’s Husband, and James Scully, who plays Mary’s Teacher, will also return starting April 8.

Betty Gilpin is currently playing the role on Broadway after taking over from Escola on Jan. 21. Tituss Burgess is set to take over for three weeks starting March 18.

Written by Escola, Oh Mary! reimagines the life of Mary Todd Lincoln, depicting her as a wannabe cabaret star with a drinking problem who is discontented with her life in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. The play, directed by Tony Award nominee Sam Pinkleton, opened on Broadway on July 11, 2024 at the Lyceum Theatre after a sold-out run Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theater.

In addition to Gilpin,...

Six-time Emmy Award-nominated actor Tituss Burgess will take over the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in Cole Escola’s hit Broadway comedy Oh, Mary! for a limited three-week engagement in March.

“Oh, Mary! blew me away when I saw it on Broadway,” Burgess said in a statement. “Cole Escola is a genius. The show is fresh and impossibly funny. I understand the role of Mary Todd Lincoln maybe a little too well. I’m over the moon with joy that I get to join the company at The Lyceum Theatre.”

Burgess will begin his run on Tuesday, March 18, and play through Sunday, April 6. He will be the third actor to play the role, following Escola, who created it, and Betty Gilpin, currently in the show.

Burgess returns to the Broadway stage following his work in musicals Moulin Rouge!, Guys and Dolls, The Little Mermaid, and many more.

Oh, Mary! without Cole Escola? As it turns out, yes. The Broadway hit comedy, which recently became the first production of the season to recoup its production cost, will have a new Mary Todd Lincoln beginning January 21 when Glow actor Betty Gilpin will take over the role for a limited 8-week engagement.

Gilpin’s engagement runs from Tuesday, January 21, 2025, through Sunday, March 16, 2025. Interestingly, Oh, Mary! also announced today that a new block of tickets for the play are on sale through Saturday, June 28, 2025. So who will play Mary from late March through June? Stay tuned.

While no mention was made in today’s announcement of Escola’s plans, in previous interviews they have expressed interest in writing new work that they would not necessary act in. That said, with a recent Tony eligibility ruling that Escola, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronounces, would be eligible in the Best...

Oh, Mary!, the Cole Escola hit Broadway comedy that last summer became the first show in the 121-year history of the Lyceum Theatre to gross more than $1 million in a single week, has recouped its entire production cost, producers announced today.

Capitalized at $4,525,000, Oh, Mary!, directed by Sam Pinkleton, is the first show of the 2024-2025 Broadway season to announce its recoupment. The recoupment announcement was made today by producers Kevin McCollum & Lucas McMahon and Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia.

Escola wrote and stars in Oh, Mary! The comedy, depicting Mary Todd Lincoln as a miserable, hard-drinking cabaret-star-wannabe in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, also features Conrad Ricamora as Mary’s Husband, James Scully as Mary’s Teacher, Bianca Leigh as Mary’s Chaperone, and Tony Macht as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant.

Since its opening on July 11 at the Lyceum, Oh, Mary! has broken its own box office record nine times,...

Oh,Mary! has recouped its $4.525 million Broadway capitalization.

The play, written by and starring Cole Escola, has recouped its Broadway production costs, after opening at the Lyceum Theatre on July 11. The production has broken its own box office record nine times, including last week, when it brought in just above $1.2 million, with an average ticket price of $171.32.

In Oh Mary!, Escola reimagines Mary Todd Lincoln as a wannabe cabaret star, railing against her life in the White House and against wishes of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln.

In addition to breaking box office records, the comedy has also brought in celebrity guests, including former first lady Michelle Obama and Valerie Jarrett on Saturday afternoon, as well as Billy Crystal, Tom Hanks, Bowen Yang, Anne Hathaway, Andrew Garfield, Jennifer Aniston and Madonna (as well as Lincoln’s Steven Spielberg, Sally Field and Tony Kushner during the Off-Broadway run).

Escola landed on...

Cole Escola’s hit Broadway comedy Oh, Mary! is extending its record-breaking run at the Lyceum Theatre by two months, and will now play through January 19, 2025.

The first show in the 121-year history of the Lyceum to gross more than $1 million in a single week, the critically acclaimed Oh, Mary! has surpassed its own house records for four consecutive weeks. The play’s highest weekly gross to date was $1,105,634.50 for the week ending September 8.

Following a twice-extended Off Broadway run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, Oh, Mary! opened on Broadway July 11 and was initially scheduled to run through September 15. The first of its two extensions pushed the closing date to November 10.

Directed by Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! stars Escola (in their Broadway debut) as a miserable, suffocated and heavy-drinking Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. The production also features Conrad Ricamora as Mary’s Husband,...

Hannah Gadsby is bringing their stand-up show, Woof!, to New York City this fall following its run in Australia and across the United States.

The Australian comedian, who rose to fame with their 2018 Netflix special Nanette which earned them an Emmy Award, is said to be sharing it all — “their worries, their wisdom, and their whimsy” — in the new show.

“Most people would be trying to level up at this point in their career,” Gadsby wrote in a statement. “But not this contrary Nancy. You see, I get the impression the world is ending, so I have decided to go down the nostalgic route over the ambitious one. So, New York City, you’re part of a tour where I am revisiting many of my old haunts, such as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and my cousins in Sandy Bay.”

The statement continued, “And so it is...

Oh, Mary!, the Off-Broadway comedy hit about Mary Todd Lincoln, is transferring to Broadway for a 12-week engagement this summer.

The show, written by and starring Cole Escola as Mary, will begin previews at the Lyceum Theatre starting June 26, with an opening night on July 11. The engagement runs through Sept. 15.

In Oh Mary!, Mary Todd Lincoln is reimagined as a wannabe cabaret star, filled with yearning for that other life, in the weeks leading up to President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. The show also stars Conrad Ricamora as Mary’s Husband, otherwise known as Abraham Lincoln, James Scully as Mary’s Teacher, Bianca Leigh as Mary’s Chaperone, and Tony Macht as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant, as well as cast members Hannah Solow and Peter Smith.

The show is critically acclaimed and has proven popular off-Broadway, after selling out its first run and extending twice at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

The sold-out, twice-extended Off Broadway comedy Oh, Mary! will transfer to Broadway this summer, producers announced today.

Written by and starring Cole Escola and directed by Sam Pinkleton, the play will begin previews at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre on June 26 ahead of a July 11 opening night. The limited 12-week engagement will run through September 15.

Producers Kevin McCollum & Lucas McMahon and Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia announced the move. The dark comedy currently is playing at the Lucille Lortel Theatre Off Broadway.

Oh, Mary! stars Escola as, according to the synopsis, “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 one act play that finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln through the lens of an idiot (Escola).” The show also stars Conrad Ricamora as Mary’s Husband, James Scully as Mary’s Teacher,...

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend co-creator and star Rachel Bloom will bring her one-woman musical comedy Death, Let Me Do My Show to Off Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Theatre for a four-week engagement this fall.

Previews of the show, directed by Seth Barrish (Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & the Pool), begin Wednesday, September 6, with opening night on Thursday, September 14.

Death, Let Me Do My Show comes to the Lortel after playing sold out engagements in London, Chicago, and Boston, among others. The show is described as “filled with raunchy and escapist material that will in No way explore the pandemic and all the tumultuous events that ensued in her personal life. Nothing will stop Rachel from partying like it’s 2019!”

“The best way to deal with the trauma we all experienced in 2020 is to forget about it and never discuss it again and that is what this show endeavors to do,” said Bloom in a statement.

Exclusive: Reboot Studios, the production arm of the arts and culture nonprofit Reboot that’s funded in part by Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation, has joined the producing team for the Broadway run of Alex Edelman’s Just For Us.

The limited engagement begins previews tonight at the Hudson Theatre, with opening night on Monday, June 26. Reboot announced its involvement today.

Edelman’s one-man-comedy, which addresses antisemitism by chronicling the Jewish playwright’s visit to a meeting of White Nationalists, is among a slate of grantees that mark a second round of funding for Reboot.

Reboot Studios funds and develops content for theater, television, film, podcasts, music and publishing, with a mission to empower “storytellers to transform society through a Jewish lens.” Reboot will co-produce Just for Us with Broadway producer Rebecca Gold. The Broadway show is produced by Jenny Gersten, Rachel Sussman, and Seaview, with Mike Birbiglia.

Adam Brace, the British playwright and director who was set to make his Broadway debut this summer with longtime collaborator Alex Edelman, died Saturday following a short illness. He was 43.

The news comes less than a month after the announcement that Brace and Obie Award-winning writer and performer Edelman would bring the award-winning solo show Just For Us to Broadway. The limited engagement – Edelman’s first appearance on Broadway – is scheduled to begin previews at the Hudson Theatre on Thursday, June 22, with an opening night set for Monday, June 26. The show will run through Saturday, August 19.

Just For Us had previously been staged to considerable acclaim Off Broadway and in London, Edinburgh, Boston and other cities.

“He was my closest collaborator for more than a decade, but more importantly, he was one of my closest friends,” Edelman said in a statement posted on Twitter. “I don’t feel ready to...

Obie Award-winning writer and performer Alex Edelman will bring his solo show Just For Us to Broadway this summer following critically acclaimed engagements Off Broadway and in London, Edinburgh, Boston and other cities.

The Broadway limited engagement – Edelman’s first – will begin previews at the Hudson Theatre on Thursday, June 22, with an opening night set for Monday, June 26. The show will run through Saturday, August 19.

The Broadway run was announced today by producers Jenny Gersten, Rachel Sussman, and Seaview, with Mike Birbiglia. Just For Us will be directed by Adam Brace. The show was originally produced Off Broadway by Birbiglia in association with Mike Lavoie, Carlee Briglia and Joseph Birbiglia.

The show’s synopsis: “In the wake of a string of anti-Semitic rhetoric pointed in his direction online, standup comic Edelman decides to go straight to the source; specifically,...

Exclusive: Colin Quinn has announced a new stage show – his seventh – and an opening night. Colin Quinn: Small Talk will play the Lucille Lortel Theatre Off Broadway beginning January 6 with an official opening scheduled for January 23.

The limited engagement runs through February 11. Written by and starring Quinn, Colin Quinn: Small Talk will be produced by Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia and Brian Stern. Directing will be James Fauvell, reteaming with Quinn after the comic’s Red State Blue State.

The synopsis: In Small Talk, Quinn “breaks down the one area he’s actually gifted in: Personality. Mr. Quinn has been chatting it up with friends, family, municipal employees and counter people for his whole life and now he can teach you how to stop sucking the energy out of the room.”

Quinn said in a statement, “I’m doing this show because I’m fascinated with how personality in general (and...

Kate Berlant’s critically acclaimed one-woman show, “Kate,” will return to New York City’s Connelly Theater for an eight-week “encore” run, from Dec. 19, 2022, to Feb. 10, 2023.

“Kate” premiered off-Broadway in September 2022 and enjoyed a sold-out run through Oct. 8. Tickets are on sale now at KateShow.net.

“Kate,” a clever, comedic and mostly fictionalized portrayal of Berlant’s life story, is directed by Bo Burnham, who produces alongside Mike Lavoie and Carlee Briglia.

Performances are at 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. On Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, shows are at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., and there will be an additional show on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. There are no shows on Dec. 26 and Jan. 16. Runtime for “Kate” is 80 minutes with no intermission.

Berlant is a comedian and actor whose film credits include “Don’t Worry Darling,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “Sorry to Bother You.

Tony Sokol Jan 28, 2020

National Lampoon finds corporate sponsors for its Downfall Festival in Lemmings: 21st Century.

National Lampoon flayed the peace and love generation when a million Lemmings showed up to off themselves at a free concert. The National Lampoon franchise, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, will send a new wave over the cliff. The iconic comedy brand is rebooting their legendary Off-Broadway Show with Lemmings: 21st Century.

Lemmings was a take-off of Woodstock, promising three days of peace, love and death. John Belushi was the master of ceremonies, bassist, and suicidal cheerleader for the “Woodshuck" festival. The new original musical picks up where the original left off by spoofing the corporate festival culture which has taken over musical gatherings ever since. Lemmings: 21st Century takes on modern Millennial fests like Coachella, Burning Man, Bonnaroo, and Fyre. Their fictional music gathering is called the "Downfall Festival," and it is...

Exclusive: Comedian Jacqueline Novak will launch a new Off Broadway comedy at The Cherry Lane Theatre in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village this summer, and if the title and subject matter don’t get your attention, the comedy world support certainly will.

Executive produced by Mike Birbiglia and presented by Natasha Lyonne, Jacqueline Novak: Get On Your Knees debuts July 10, with an official opening set for July 22. The limited engagement runs through Aug. 18.

The official description: Get On Your Knees is the most high-brow show about blowjobs you’ll ever see. Novak spins her material on the femininity of the penis and the stoicism of the vulva into an unexpectedly philosophical show that’s part feminist outcry, part coming-of-age tale of triumph.

Ira Glass has called the show a “nearly Talmudic dissection of a subject. Really funny and just really like nothing else.” Amy Schumer says Novak’s comedy “is the...

Mike Birbiglia’s sold-out Off Broadway show The New One will move to Broadway’s Cort Theatre next month, the producers announced today.

The limited engagement begins previews on Oct. 25, with an official opening set for Nov. 11. The limited engagement runs through Jan. 20, 2019.

“I’m so excited to be bringing The New One to The Cort Theater on Broadway which is where I saw the great Kenneth Lonergan play This Is Our Youth,” Birbiglia said at the start of a very long statement (read it all below). “Which is fitting because this show is about somebody’s youth. Not mine.”

Written by Birbiglia (Sleepwalk With Me), with additional writing by Jennifer Hope Stein, The New One is directed by Seth Barrish with set design for Broadway by Beowulf Boritt (Bernhardt/Hamlet), lighting design by Aaron Copp, and sound design by Leon Rothenberg.

The New One will be produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum,...

Comic and actor Mike Birbiglia’s return to Off Broadway this summer sold out within hours yesterday and is being extended by two weeks.

Mike Birbiglia: The New One begins a limited engagement July 26 at the Cherry Lane Theater in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Originally set to close August 2, the show will now close August 25. No further extensions are possible due to another booking at the theater.

Tickets for the original run sold out within hours of going on sale Wednesday, according to Mike Lavoie, who produces along with Birbiglia. Lavoie also speculated that “Broadway may be in the future” for The New One.

Birbiglia’s previous one-man shows include My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend and Thank God for Jokes, both filmed for Netflix, and Sleepwalk with Me, which he developed into a feature film. As an actor, he’s appeared on Billions and Orange is the New Black, among other series.

Exclusive: Following a five week run at The Barrow Street Theatre in New York City last month, Colin Quinn Unconstitutional will be re-opening at The Cherry Lane Theatre on July 4. Quinn, the former Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live, wrote and stars. Rebecca A. Trent directs him. It is presented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Mike Lavoie. Basically, Quinn tackles 226 years of American Constitutional calamities in 70 minutes. The reviews were strong in its first limited run. The show will also hit the road, with Quinn starring in a tour that starts with the 13 original American colonies, sometime in the fall. Quinn’s last one man stage show, Colin Quinn Long Story Short, debuted in 2010 with Jerry Seinfeld directing. The show received a Drama Desk nomination as well as an Emmy Award for the HBO broadcast of the play. Onscreen, Quinn will next be seen in Grown Ups 2 for Sony,...