By the end of “Oh, Mary!,” we have learned that First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln was a homicidally bitter alcoholic and frustrated cabaret singer married to a vicious closet homosexual whose assassination didn’t go down the way we were taught. This is not meant to be historically accurate, of course; that’s beside the point. The point is to make the audience laugh. 

So, what if you don’t find this alternative history all that funny?

Then you’d find yourself apparently out of step with the theatergoers who have turned Cole Escola’s eighty-minute exercise in camp into an Off-Broadway hit, extended twice and completely sold out, despite astronomical ticket prices.

As both writer and star of “Oh, Mary!”, Escola,  a familiar face on streaming TV comedies, seems to be trying for the mantle of next-generation Charles Ludlam and Charles Busch,  by creating a ridiculous drag diva in a melodrama that’s also a spoof of a melodrama. But, unlike the work of these predecessors, “Oh Mary!”   doesn’t seem to take its melodrama seriously. 

 Without the pointed undertones and studied character development by these older theater artists, “Oh, Mary!” is entertaining, yes,  bawdy, queer,  tasteless – i.e. camp –  but like an overlong sketch.  Escola is unquestionably talented – their facial contortions reminded me of I Love Lucy, their hoop skirt evoked for me Carol Burnett as Scarlett O’Hara wearing the curtains in her famous Went with the Wind sketch. There is humor in the silliness, sure, but it wears thin, in part because Sam Pinkleton directs the adept five-member cast to be hammy and frenetic; in part because the tastelessness went too far for me.

Admittedly, this sketch has a plot, featuring a couple of surprises that I shouldn’t spoil. Lincoln (Conrad Ricamora) is battling his wife as much as the Confederate army, trying to get her to stop drinking.. At the same time, he tries to keep his sexual attraction at bay, none too successfully; his assistant (Tony Macht) assists him in more ways than one.

Mary is a bored housewife, flouncing around , deviously stashing bottles of booze, teasing and torturing her lady companion Louise (Bianca Leigh) and pining for her old life as a cabaret star —  “a rather well-known niche cabaret legend,” as she puts it. “People traveled the world over for my short legs and long medleys.” Her husband sees it differently, as he later reveals to a paramour: “She was never a star. She sang for six nights in an animal variety show that she paid to be a part of. Audiences hated her.” To keep his wife from returning to cabaret (in part because he feels it will somehow expose him as queer), he tries to get her involved in some other activity besides drinking, which leads to the kind of absurdist exchange that I found funniest:

Abraham: Do something else. Horseback riding.
Mary: No! I hate those horses. They laugh at me.
Abraham: We’ve been over this, Mary, they’re neighing. Horses neigh.
Mary: You always take their side! 

Lincoln decides to hire an acting teacher for Mary (James Scully), which leads to some of the most anchored humor in the show – about theater and cabaret, and the difference between the two –   but also to the climax, the scene I found especially unfunny. 

Luckily the show bounces back when Mary gets her wish at the very end, performing one of her long medleys, which hilariously combines such songs as “Copacabana” with “I’m a Little Teapot.” This musical interlude shows off Cole Escola as a potential future cabaret legend, and maybe not even niche. 

Oh, Mary
Lucille Lortel Theater through May 12
Running time: 80 minutes with no intermission
Tickets: Were $191, but now sold out
“Standby tickets will be sold at show time at the box office window for $47.”
Written by Cole Escola
Directed by Sam Pinkleton
Scenic design by dots, costume design by Holly Pierson, lighting design by Cha See, sound design by Daniel Kluger and Drew Levy, wig design by Leah J.Loukas, original music by Daniel Kluger, arrangements by David Dabbon.
Cast: Cole Escola as Mary Todd Lincoln, Conrad Ricamora as Mary’s Husband, 
James Scully as Mary’s Teacher, Bianca Leigh as Mary’s Chaperone,
Tony Macht as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant
Photos by Emilio Madrid