Earlier than Jane Krakowski takes the stage every night time on the Lyceum Theatre, the place she’s been enjoying the titular position in Broadway’s Oh, Mary! since October, she performs a quick pre-show ritual. To get into the headspace of Mary Todd Lincoln—properly, Mary Todd Lincoln as delightfully, derangedly conceived by Cole Escola—Krakowski places on The Ethel Merman Disco Album.
“I all the time take heed to her cowl of ‘There’s No Enterprise Like Present Enterprise’ whereas I end up and ensure my curls look bratty,” Krakowski says cheekily. “No different music higher sums up our present, and it immediately snaps me into Mary Todd’s mindset.”
It tracks that Merman’s vinyl—a sought-after camp artifact—would present up in Krakowski’s Oh, Mary! dressing room (itself designed by Escola’s longtime pal Amy Sedaris). Written by and initially starring Escola, the hit farce, which reimagines Mary Todd as a former “area of interest cabaret legend” with a penchant for booze and a closeted husband, grew to become a word-of-mouth sensation when it debuted on the 299-seat Lucille Lortel in 2024. Since shifting to the Lyceum, Oh, Mary! has developed the form of cult fandom nearly exceptional for a Broadway present that isn’t about Alexander Hamilton.
“I liked it a lot that I used to be nearly mad I didn’t write the half for myself,” Krakowski half-jokes. She’s been a fan of Escola since assembly them on the set of At House with Amy Sedaris years in the past, however seeing an early efficiency of Oh, Mary! unlocked new ranges of appreciation.
“As somebody who longs for nice comedic writing, this simply had all of it,” she says. “It felt so particular to look at Cole get celebrated for creating one thing that celebrates all of their abilities, but additionally holds as much as so many various interpretations.”
Since Escola’s departure from Oh, Mary! to concentrate on different initiatives—together with a Miss Piggy film produced by Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone—Betty Gilpin, Tituss Burgess, and Jinkx Monsoon have all slipped into Mary Todd’s bratty curls. (Krakowski noticed and liked all of them.) When Escola and director Sam Pinkleton requested Krakowski if she’d be open to taking a flip, she instantly mentioned sure.
