Cole Escola is Mary Todd Lincoln in OH, MARY! Off-Broadway- Page 3

[LW2]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 11:06am

I’m thinking of trying to squeeze this in on a Saturday between two other shows.  I’m not very familiar with the area that the Lortel is in and I’ve not been to the city in many years, so before I book:  if this show gets out at 6:30ish, how stressed or pressed for time willl I be trying to to get to Lincoln Center via subway for an 8:00 show?  Annoying question but thanks in advance!

[Kad]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 12:23pm

You won’t be pressed for time at all. The Christopher Street 1 train station is less than a ten minute walk from the theater and that will take you directly to Lincoln Center in approximately a half hour. If everything is running as it should be, you’d be at Lincoln Center by 7:15. 

[LW2]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 12:35pm

Ah, wonderful!  Thanks so much for the help!

[Skip23]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 1:02pm

All the actors are fine, - the material just isn’t that good.  Scully is appropriately sexy but not crazed. 
 

The funniest part of the whole evening are the photos that have been put up on the wall of the lobby  showing Escola in other productions. The comments on the photos are very funny. 

[thatdarnzach]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 1:33pm

Skip23 said: "All the actors are fine, - the material just isn’t that good. Scully is appropriately sexy but not crazed.


The funniest part of the whole evening are the photosthat have been put up on the wall of the lobbyshowing Escola in other productions. The comments on the photos are very funny."

And we've found the first person who sits above the material!

[Skip23]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 2:24pm

thatdarnzach said: "Skip23 said: "All the actors are fine, - the material just isn’t that good. Scully is appropriately sexy but not crazed.


The funniest part of the whole evening are the photosthat have been put up on the wall of the lobbyshowing Escola in other productions. The comments on the photos are very funny."

And we've found the first person who sitsabove the material!"

 

How did you know?  Yes!  I was seated in the balcony!

 

 

[Leaf Coneybear]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 3:06pm

As a huge Abraham Lincoln nerd, I've decided to fly in in a few weeks purely for this. So excited!

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 5:29pm

Leaf Coneybear said: "As a huge Abraham Lincoln nerd, I've decided to fly in in a few weeks purely for this. So excited!"

Hopefully you're not hoping to learn anything... ;-)

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 6:27pm

Funny enough, an article was just posted on the NYT website this afternoon:

"It’s hard to pin down the moment in “Oh, Mary!,” a comedy about Mary Todd Lincoln, that will send Lincoln scholars and purists into apoplexy. It could be when the first lady disastrously auditions for a role in “Our American Cousin,” the play at which John Wilkes Booth would later shoot her husband on April 14, 1865. Or when the deeply closeted Lincoln is orally pleasured at his desk. Maybe the puke-drinking scene?

There have been walkouts.

“I’ve seen people at the box office who seem to think this is really a play about Abraham Lincoln, and I feel a little bad, but it’s also funny,” Cole Escola, the show’s writer and star, said in a recent phone interview."

[Skip23]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 6:36pm

MemorableUserName said: "Funny enough, an article was just posted on the NYT website this afternoon:

"It’s hard to pin down the moment in “Oh, Mary!,” a comedy about Mary Todd Lincoln, that will send Lincoln scholars and purists into apoplexy. It could be when the first lady disastrously auditions for a role in “Our American Cousin,” the play at which John Wilkes Booth would later shoot her husband on April 14, 1865. Or when the deeply closeted Lincoln is orally pleasured at his desk. Maybe the puke-drinking scene?

There have been walkouts.

“I’ve seen people at the box office who seem to think this is really a play about Abraham Lincoln, and I feel a little bad, but it’s also funny,” Cole Escola, the show’s writer and star, said in a recent phone interview.""

 

I have a feeling that the walkouts aren't because of the low comedy.  They're probably because of the NO comedy.  It's just not that funny.  IMHO.  

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 7:17pm

Comedy is so subjective. However, anyone deciding whether to see this should just weigh the number of positive comments against the number of negative comment. I found it super funny and entirely entertaining, and it seems most ticket buyers agree. Not everyone will obviously. 

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 7:32pm

It has a 92 on Show-Score, 97% favorable, 3% mixed, and, no offense to them, truly, but I don't think anyone is surprised that the above poster didn't like it. 

[Skip23]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 8:15pm

TaffyDavenport said: "It has a 92 on Show-Score, 97% favorable, 3% mixed, and, no offense to them, truly, but I don't think anyone is surprised that the above poster didn't like it."

 

Priceless! 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 8:40pm

I haven't seen the show and really have no interest; I posted the quote above because the one poster said they're a Lincoln enthusiast and the NYT quote was specifically about the response of Lincoln purists. But personally it's always nice to see different opinions stated on here, especially ones that differ from the majority (particularly a sea of raves on Show Score). I'm not familiar with your opinions and don't know if I'd agree, but thank you for sharing.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 11:45pm

Emphasis on “IMHO”

People are allowed not to like something, that’s fine! But I laughed for 90 straight minutes and had more than than I’ve had at a show in years. 
 

What we ain’t gonna do to this show (and this isn’t a read on those who didn’t like it) is try to discourse this to death, like most theatre fans with internet access try to do. It’s a silly off broadway play about Mary Todd Lincoln. I can assure you nothing is that serious to discuss. 

[Impeach2017]

Posted: 2/8/24 at 8:01am

Wait, there exist "Lincoln purists"?  Please don't try to explain this phenomena to me; I'd rather not dive into that arcane and possibly insane rabbit hole!

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 2/8/24 at 10:05am

Impeach2017 said: "Wait, there exist "Lincoln purists"? Please don't try to explain this phenomena to me;I'd rather not dive into that arcane and possibly insane rabbit hole!"

But are they as insane as the "Sondheim purists"?

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 2/8/24 at 10:36am

BroadwayNYC2 said: "What we ain’t gonna do to this show (and this isn’t a read on those who didn’t like it) is try to discourse this to death, like most theatre fans with internet access try to do."

This message board's main purpose is to have discourse over shows. Otherwise, why are you here?

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 2/8/24 at 11:28am

There’s a difference between having a conversation and over analyzing for what truly is a silly piece of theatre, in the best possible way. 

[Kad]

Posted: 2/8/24 at 11:32am

I don't see any semblance of such analysis here, though.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 2/8/24 at 9:33pm

Vulture is a rave.

Oh, Mary! The Play Was Hilarious, Mrs. Lincoln

https://www.vulture.com/article/theater-review-cole-escola-oh-mary-lincoln.html

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 2/8/24 at 9:36pm

Five stars from TimeOut

Cole Escola's gleefully irreverent comedy is the funniest play in years.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/oh-mary-review-comedy-cole-escola-mary-todd-lincoln

 

Four stars (out of four) from NYP:

‘Oh, Mary!’ review: Wild West Wing comedy is the funniest show in town

https://nypost.com/2024/02/08/entertainment/oh-mary-review-wild-west-wing-comedy-about-mary-todd-lincoln-is-funniest-show-in-town/

 

Theatrely:

OH, MARY! A First-Rate First Lady Campsterpiece — Review

https://www.theatrely.com/post/oh-mary-a-first-rate-first-lady-campsterpiece-review
 

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 2/8/24 at 9:36pm

The Wrap is a rave:

https://www.thewrap.com/oh-mary-off-broadway-review-cole-escola/

"It’s unusual in the camp world of drag that you sit through the play on stage to see how it turns out. Usually, it’s more than enough to guffaw at the outrageousness of crossdressing and actors delivering zingers loaded with filthy double entendres.

In the new play “Oh, Mary!,” playwright and star Cole Escola delivers that whole delicious enchilada — and, along the way, also manages to reinvent and turn into an inspired comedy the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

You won’t get more plot than that here, because I sat in riveted suspense on what would happen next. The conclusion genuinely shocked me and created comic pandemonium the likes of which I’ve rarely experienced in the theater."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 2/8/24 at 9:38pm

Theatermania is positive:

https://www.theatermania.com/news/review-cole-escola-drags-mary-todd-lincoln-in-oh-mary_1729241/

"Escola and Pinkleton should be applauded for bringing the irreverent, slyly intelligent, irresistibly naughty spirit of the Ridiculous back to Christopher Street. When so much of the outside world is terribly depressing, I always welcome an opportunity to laugh for 80 straight (but also very gay) minutes in the theater."

[quizking101]

Posted: 2/8/24 at 10:45pm

Oleksinski is a positive - which mean it has to be good since it pleased the guy who hates everything.

https://nypost.com/2024/02/08/entertainment/oh-mary-review-wild-west-wing-comedy-about-mary-todd-lincoln-is-funniest-show-in-town/

Also, allegedly they are now possibly looking at a transfer uptown to Broadway since apparently once the MSAQ postponement rumors were running, Kevin McCollum and the Shuberts started having conversations about it.

(I take the rumor as that - since this would get totally swallowed in a larger theatre)