Places, please for ELLE’s monthly column Showstoppers, where theater’s biggest stars reflect upon the moment in their careers where the famous phrase “the show must go on” became a little too real. When things don’t go according to plan onstage, here’s how the pros react—and what they take away from it.
This month, Cole Escola, who wrote Oh, Mary! and performs as Mary Todd Lincoln in the Broadway production, talks about the time they fought off a fly with an axe. The former cabaret performer and Search Party star also talks about the breakthrough success of Oh, Mary! and how the critically acclaimed play came to the Broadway stage.
There were a couple times early on in Oh, Mary! when one of the hoops broke in the hoop skirt. The dress is comfortable, and it’s so fun, but I had to rip the hoop out backstage, and then keep going.
That wasn’t so hard or interesting. I do remember earlier moments in my career, like in high school, when I fell off the stage in The Fantasticks. I remember in The Wizard of Oz in middle school, I was the Tin Man. There was this fly on stage, and it was so loud. The whole audience could hear it, and it was so big, and I killed it with my axe like a fly swatter. I remember it got applause. But then afterwards, I was like, “Oh, the Tin Man wouldn’t kill a fly. I’m so stupid!” Art first.
Cole Escola and James Scully in Oh, Mary!
Being in the show eight times a week just keeps me out of the word of mouth and reception. The show goes on. I didn’t have time to fully sit with much of the Off-Broadway reaction because it would literally be like okay, now I have to start my warm-ups again. It’s literally doing eight Barrys classes, no—it’s like doing 16 Barrys classes a week. Each show is two classes.
I’ve been talking to a lot of other performers who have had long runs. I remember I talked to John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) about it. I talked to Cherry Jones (Angels in America). I talked to my friend, Jen Harris, who did Silence! The Musical for a few years. Some had little pieces of advice, but for the most part, it’s just like, you just do it. You just figure it out, and it’s different. There’s no secret.
Conrad Ricamora and Cole Escola in Oh, Mary!
Talkback
On what it means for Oh, Mary! to transfer to Broadway:
“Lately, I’ve been really terrified, scared, and anxious. But then, I had a moment where I was scrolling Instagram, and I got a targeted ad for the play. That shook me out of my misery. I realized, oh, you’re being an idiot, stop. Part of the fear and the anxiety is that this is so rare. I don’t want to fuck it up and have it go wrong. But then I realize, oh wait, this is so rare, you’re an idiot if you don’t enjoy it.”
On the Oh, Mary! press tour, which has included appearances on The Tonight Show, The Late Show, and a ticket to the Met Gala:
“I feel like I’m in the middle of a tornado, just like Dorothy. It’s not unpleasant, but everything’s so fast and so surreal. I am sure I’ll be able to reflect on it after the show closes, and I have some time. But right now, I wake up and I’m like, ‘Where do I need to be? Where do I need to go? What am I doing?’”
On their portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln:
“As soon as I get on stage as Mary Todd Lincoln, I am just having the time of my life. Writing-wise, [Mary] is me, but in the way that all the characters that I write are me. Even Abe is me and all the other characters in the play are me. I’ve felt all of the things that [Mary] feels, and especially the having dreams that are embarrassing. We all care [about] what other people think about us, but we all have blind spots. Even the most self-conscious, codependent person who’s like, ‘I’m definitely in control of what other people think about me’—nobody really does. It’s crushing to realize you actually don’t have control over what people think of you, and even as much as you think you do … That’s a huge fear of mine. I think that’s especially tied into queerness. All of the facets of Mary’s personality, and dreams, and fears are directly from me.”
Tony Macht, Bianca Leigh, and Cole Escola in Oh, Mary!
On creating Oh, Mary!:
“I had the idea. I would tell friends about the idea, waiting for someone to grab me by the shoulders and shake me and be like, ‘That is the most genius idea I’ve ever heard. We have to go right now and you have to write this.’ Instead, they were just like, ‘Oh, cool. That sounds great,’ which was devastating to me. Then, I would forget the idea for a while. I’d be like, ‘Okay, I guess it sucks.’ But this idea just wouldn’t quite die; I couldn’t let go of it. I would have little scene ideas every once in a while I would email to myself. Then, during lockdown I had nothing going on, so I was like, ‘Okay, asshole, let’s see if you actually have an idea.’ I sent it to my manager, and then my manager sent it to an agent, and then the agent sent it to producers. It just kept getting pushed to the next step, until it finally got produced. It was slow, but there was never, a, ‘Looks like we can’t get the money,’ or ‘Oh! We need you to work on this before we produce it.’ It just kept getting pushed up the hill.”
On how Mary Todd Lincoln would feel about the play:
“I don’t think she would like it. I actually feel more connected to Laura Keene, who was the actress in Our American Cousin on the night Lincoln was assassinated. She was actress and producer. Weirdly, I don’t really think about the Lincolns, but I do think about her. I did this interview at the beginning of rehearsal [for the Off-Broadway production] where we took flowers to her grave, and part of me is like, ‘Oh, I better go take some more flowers,’ as if I think she’s the reason the show was a hit, and now I need to go and thank her. I need to ask her to watch over us for Broadway as well.”
On whether they were expecting the response:
“Not at all! I loved the show. I was really proud of it. Personally, and artistically, creatively, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Exactly what you see on stage is exactly what I dreamed it would be when I had the first idea in 2009. I thought and hoped that my audiences would love it. My audience, meaning the people that came to see me at Joe’s Pub, or The Duplex, or maybe their friends that didn’t get a chance to. I hoped it would be received well by them, and it never occurred to me that it would reach more people.”
On whether this scratches their itch of performing cabaret shows:
“This scratches the itch and then some. When I did cabaret shows, there was always this thing where I was like, ‘Why am I doing this?’ But, that’s another way Mary is like me. I do have that secret desire to be a cabaret star and just sing Cole Porter medleys.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Cole Escola wrote and currently stars as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! at the Lyceum Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.