Conrad Ricamora (left) and Cole Escola in “Oh, Mary!”
Emilio Madrid
A queer alternative comedy in the vein of Oh, Mary! The arrival of Cole Escola’s theatrical sensation at the Lyceum is therefore cause for great gay jubilation. But if that makes this absurd, smug reinterpretation of a key moment in American history a niche entertainment that arrives late for Pride Month, make no mistake. It’s hard to imagine anyone with a sense of humor not joining in the infectious laughter unleashed by Escola’s hilarious antics, reimagining Mary Todd Lincoln as a failed alcoholic cabaret performer married to a president struggling to keep the closet door shut.
Escola has stolen the show in television series including Difficult people, Research group And At Home with Amy Sedaris (there are no words to express how much I miss that show), and he often serves as a writer. The non-binary actor has said in interviews that since theater wasn’t really open to them, they decided to write their own script.
Hence this radically moronic farce, which transforms a misunderstood first lady into a magnificent — and monstrous — comic creation while casting an irreverent new light on the man she regrets marrying, who is trying to run the country while doing everything he can to keep her away from alcohol and the spotlight.
Escola’s performance in the title role – costumed primarily in a black taffeta hoop dress and a ridiculous wig of curls topped with a severe bun – is a masterclass in precise comic timing, sleazy double takes and dizzying physical comedy.
In the wake of the 2019 Met Gala, which this year’s theme was “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” there was a lot of discussion about the specific meaning of camp and how most attendees misunderstood the mission. Well, Oh, Mary! is as precise an example of camp as one could wish for, taking a title that has been either a term of endearment or a mean-spirited term of rejection for gay men for decades and featuring a female heroine whose Machiavellian self-interest recalls the vixens of mid-century Hollywood melodramas. Minus the intelligence.
Escola has described her interpretation of the protagonist as “through the prism of an idiot,” and indeed, one of the most hilarious aspects of this capricious, capricious, cruel, sarcastic, and carefree Mary Todd Lincoln is how profoundly indifferent she is to the concerns of the extremely harassed Abraham (Conrad Ricamora). She’s sort of the prototype Melania, but with a humorous twist.
This exchange, when Mary implores her husband to let her return to cabaret, sums up her involvement in the affairs of the nation:
Abraham: No! This is inappropriate! We are at war!
Marie: With whom?
Abraham: The South!
Marie: What about?
Brilliantly directed by Sam Pinkleton in a cheap, amusing set that one might almost expect to see at Ford’s Theatre in the 1800s—complete with two sets of double doors to allow for dramatic entrances and exits—the play fictionalizes the events of the days leading up to Lincoln’s assassination. While the characters involved are historically accurate, the details are pure invention. Escola readily admits to doing virtually no historical research, merely saying of the play in a THR interview: “It’s just tailor-made for all my favorite things: genre, melodrama, vulgarity, stupidity.”
When Mary starts drinking paint thinner after Abraham confiscates her whiskey, the president realizes that his wife’s prim and proper chaperone, Louise (Bianca Leigh), will never be able to control her. As a compromise, he suggests that Mary put aside her cabaret aspirations to work in a legitimate theater, hiring a handsome drama teacher (James Scully) to keep her busy. She sees it as a ploy to keep her sober and out of sight. But the president is enraged enough to insist: “Take acting lessons, you idiot.”
What ensues is a great Shakespearean butchery, as well as love intrigues and escape plans. Through a mixture of cunning, shamelessness and luck, Mary stumbles as best she can to live her best life, flouting patriarchal propriety.
The first lady’s demented reincarnation is matched by the outrageous attitude of Honest Abe, whose sexuality has often been the subject of historical speculation. His insistence that no one know that the couple met at a cabaret where Mary was performing one of her “goofy medleys” speaks volumes. “I was young and confused,” he admits. The president’s romp with his junior aide Simon (Tony Macht) becomes more explicit, as do some confusing threads left hanging from a previous fling.
Ricamora is hilarious as Abraham, who screams with rage, shudders with disgust or prays to God to help him control his sexual urges, bargaining that he will give it all up after just one more time. His cruelty when he turns on his former lover is priceless: “I am the president of the United States. But who are you? A pretty face and a big ass.”
Scully also gets some choice moments, most notably when the professor’s identity is revealed, which instantly raises the stakes. Leigh and Macht, deftly cast as doubles, also fit perfectly into a tight-knit, zany ensemble that honors a rich tradition of joyously over-the-top New York alternative theater, from Charles Ludlam to Charles Busch. There’s even a hint of the spirit of the repertory troupe of The Carol Burnett Showalthough the excessively crude nature of the content would have made the channel’s management’s heads explode.
During its first extended performance at the Lortel Theatre earlier this year, Oh, Mary! drew packed houses that, on one night, included Steven Spielberg, Sally Field and Tony Kushner, respectively the director, co-star and screenwriter of Lincoln. The widely circulated backstage photo of the band with Escola dressed as Mary probably helped to convey the message that this was no ordinary farce. The playwright might call it stupid, but any comedy that frees the audience from the despair of the current political climate with 80 minutes of nearly uninterrupted laughter is a work of genius.
Venue: Lyceum Theatre, New York
With: Cole Escola, Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Bianca Leigh, Tony Macht
Playwright: Cole Escola
Director: Sam Pinkleton
Scenographer: Dots
Costume Designer: Holly Pierson
Lighting Designer: Cha See
Sound Designers: Daniel Kluger, Drew Levy
Music: Daniel Kluger
Hosted by Kevin McCollum and Lucas McMahon, Mike Lavoie and Carlee Briglia
Gn entert
News Source : www.hollywoodreporter.com
