Oh, Mary's Husband!

The question isn't will it win, but how many times?

With the annual Tony Awards show just around the corner, it’s a moment for celebrating all of the phenomenal shows that are now lighting up Broadway. The success of so many plays and musicals are a reminder of the central role that live theater has always played in the cultural landscape of New York City, and the nation itself. Today’s theater professionals are yesterday’s theater kids, and the Tony awards offer a special mixture of validation and hope for each group.

But one show in this year’s nominee crop, in particular, provides even more than that. Its commercial and critical success demonstrates not only that history can repeat itself, but that the past is something that we can always learn from, so long as we are open to the possibility. That show, of course, is Cole Escola’s phenomenal Oh Mary!

Let’s start with the irony of a theatrical show created around arguably the most star-crossed couple to ever attend a live performance in American history. Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln were married for more than two tumultuous decades, but the last thing they did together was see a play in a theater. And not just any play, but what was described as an “eccentric comedy” that had been performed hundreds of times by Laura Keene, a trailblazing female entrepreneur in the world of American theater.

I’m a big Lincoln fan, and have been my entire life. Lincoln is literally my middle name, after all. And a slapstick, absurdist play based on him—even if he is titled in the Playbill as “Mary’s Husband”, was something I wanted to see from the moment that I first learned about its existence.

There are some historical twists in the play, which I’ll leave out here. It’s possible that someone finding this Substack might want to see it for themselves on Broadway, after all. So don’t expect me to get into what the deal with “Mary’s Teacher” is, or “Mary’s Husband’s Assistant.” They’re both part of the story, for sure, but I’d rather hype the play than let any cats out of the bag.

This Lincoln will be watching on Sunday night, as the Tony Awards are given out and Mary gets some recognition in a way that the real Mary probably never intended. The laughs that the show generates—admittedly at her and her husband’s expense—are something that we all need right now. The arts have always served to take us away from the realities of everyday life; that’s why we need them as we do. So bring on the accolades, and may laughter reign forever, just as Lincoln wanted it to.