Oh, Tituss! Burgess brings his guest talents back to Broadway in a Tony-winning satire

 

When I stopped to take a picture of the stage on my way out of the Lyceum Theatre, an usher kindly asked that I not post the photo on social media because it could “spoil the ending.” Out of all the rapid fire jokes, puns, and quips Oh, Mary contains, this one take the cake. The production has been on Broadway for more than 52 weeks, yet it has managed to win two Tonys, gin up press, and keep the box office lines forming around the block while remaining tight-lipped about the ending. 

 

Three days ago, I didn’t know the ending or the plot. All I’ve known about the play since it premiered in July 2024, was that it was a comedy. At one point, I thought it was a one-man (in a dress) show. I heard countless sidewalk and intermission reviews from Committed Theatre Goers, the white, upper-middle class couples who fill the seats at every show. The couples can be gay, straight, or even two parts of a larger polycule; they live in or close enough to the city to take the train in; and they seem to see everything before I do. The Goers and I have a unique relationship because I rarely trust their judgment, but I consistently ask for their opinions on recent viewings. Listening to their takes on Oh, Mary was like reading the posters outside of the show. “It’s hilarious!” they intoned through sips of concession stand wine, “It’s really a must-see.” I might as well have been leafing through the press kit. I only recently realized that everyone told me what they thought about it, but no one ever told me what it was about.

Due to the vague appraisals, I only became intrigued when I heard that Tituss Burgess would be filling in for Cole Escola, who wrote and starred in Oh, Mary and is on a well-earned vacation after winning the Tony award for Best Actor. In 2016, I met Mr. Burgess at a Harlem wine shop for a tasting of his Pinot Noir and we’ve crossed paths at the juice bar on a handful of weekend mornings; I try not to bother him with my enthusiasm in the wild. Seeing Tituss, who is tall, Black, and (for four seasons of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) bald, play our nation’s 20th first lady in a satirical retelling of her life seemed like a rousing way to spend an evening. 

 

I haven’t seen Cole Escola in the play they wrote, and I wonder if they knew — when they put down the pen or more likely, closed the laptop — that they’d written themselves the perfect role. I also wonder if they thought it possible that anyone else could even pull it off. The plot has more twists than a box of cavatappi pasta and Mary has to have range in accents, severity, and song. From his first moment on stage, Tituss — who busts through the double doors of Lincoln’s office hissing like a snake in heat — can pull it off and does. Swirling around Conrad Ricamora’s ‘straight’-laced Lincoln in a crinoline hoop skirt, Tituss’s Mary is adorned with an unflattering halo of silky curls that bounce around a chignon atop her head.

 

Burgess is cadent with his comedic timing, unabashed in his physical comedy (how does one mount a desk for a midday tryst in a hoop skirt?), and nimble as he switches through Mary’s many personas. Like a Sour Patch kid come-to-life, sometimes she’s sour, sometimes she’s sweet, sometimes she’s trying to distract you so she can take a shot of paint thinner. Beware! When she’s not cutting you down like a disgruntled Harlemite on the M7, she’s mining you for your most sacred desire. Mr. Burgess makes use of his diva-level vocal range and powerhouse dynamics during a brief vaudeville-style medley. In a genre that’s already over the top, he pushes the limits until they disintegrate, revealing an unhinged fever dream set to show tunes.   

For months, this play was my ‘white whale’. During Tituss’s first run as Ms. Lincoln from March to April I waited in line for rush tickets on two separate days, but neither queue was successful. During his six week return this summer, I tried twice again: arriving on the day of my first try at 9am (not early enough), and then on the day of my second try at 8am (somehow I fared worse off than when I’d arrived at 9). My friend Donavan manned the digital lottery, but as the weeks slipped away so, too, did my laissez-faire approach to the whole rush operation. 

 

In the final week of Tituss’s run, I made up my mind to do it one last time the right way. When the sun came up on Tuesday morning, I was planted outside the Lyceum Theatre Box Office, officially first in line which practically guaranteed me a ticket. For 75 minutes, I was a cuckoo standing on that steamy street and getting bit by Manhattan’s only mosquitoes. Around 7:15am, two young women lined up behind me, followed by two more who’d been watching, unbitten from inside the Starbucks across the street. By 8:30, the line was longer than I’d seen it in all the days I’d come and I began to worry, not that I wouldn’t get a ticket, but that the show wouldn’t be worth the time and energy I’d spent vying for one. When I scored two partial view seats in the left side box, I felt pensive instead of vindicated. (I should note here that this turned out to be the most partial view of any partial view seat I’ve ever had. A solid third of the stage was blocked by lighting equipment and the third we couldn’t see turned out to be a hot spot. While we were very close to the actors when we could see them, I would’ve preferred a full view in the mezzanine or balcony or partial view in the box on the opposite side. For the $43 rush ticket price, it’s likely a moot complaint.)

I haven’t any indication, besides the setting of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, that Mary Todd Lincoln is a fan of theatre, but this is a driving feature of the plot in Oh, Mary. She consoles her acting teacher who hasn’t had much stage success that “just because your name isn’t on the poster doesn’t mean you’re not the star.” Tituss shares the scene with James Scully whose name is not on the poster for Oh, Mary, but there’s another joke hiding there while Tituss takes over for Cole. In my view of Mr. Burgess, he’s on the poster, he’s a star, and he was worth the wait. Having stacked his credits on Oh, Mary and Moulin Rouge, Tituss may soon have his own Broadway show. It could be about anything or nothing at all, but when that day comes I’ll be first in line.     

 

blacklove 🖤 and starlight 🌟 

 

Oh, Mary opened at the Lyceum Theatre on July 11, 2024 and is scheduled to continue until January 4, 2026. The play was written by Cole Escola (Tony, Best Leading Actor) and directed by Sam Pinkleton (Tony, Best Direction of a Play). Tituss Burgess appeared as Mary from March 18 to April 6, 2025 and again from June 23 to August 2, 2025. The show also stars Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Bianca Leigh, and Tony Macht. In-person and digital rush tickets are available for $43 and $47, respectively, while regular ticket prices begin at $89. I purchased an in-person rush ticket for the performance on July 29th.