Having experienced “one of the most enjoyable nights I’ve ever had at the theatre” when I caught the original cast in Oh, Mary!—as detailed in my ★★★★★ review from July, 2025—I must admit that I was hesitant to see it again. After that “great day” on Broadway, I felt like a child who had just got off a rollercoaster and wanted to immediately run back to join the line to take another ride. But the adult in me feared that the theatrical euphoria I had felt could not be matched and I would rather live with that perfect memory. Then something happened.
We all know the potential drawbacks of social media, but sometimes its capacity to spread joyful news makes the downsides worth it. On June 18th, it was revealed that two-time Drag Race winner—and let’s face it all-round cultural icon—Jinkx Monsoon, would be donning the signature bratty wig and stepping into the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, originated by the play’s writer Cole Escola, which made them a Tony-winner. There was an explosion of excitement and love for Jinkx online which markedly outsized the general response to other major Broadway casting announcements, at least on my social feeds. Having thrilled to Jinkx’s box office record-breaking Broadway debut in Chicago and subsequent triumphant New York theatrical turns in Little Shop of Horrors and Pirates! The Penzance Musical, not to mention her solo shows and annual holiday extravaganzas with BenDeLaCreme, I knew I had to put my reservations aside and take myself back to see Oh, Mary!
Turns out, those fears were unfounded and my return trip to the White House on the Great White Way, now under the Monsoon administration, proved to be just as hilarious, and only enriched by the memories of my initial visit. From her first entrance—to rapturous applause, of course—Monsoon takes on the role with captivating verve. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear the part was written for her. It fits like a cabaret star’s sequined evening glove.
Seeing an entirely new cast in action (Tony Macht was off as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant at the performance I caught, with Martin Landry valiantly understudying and delivering comedy gold) gave me a renewed appreciation for Escola’s skillful writing of this blissfully queer masterpiece. Escola has created something that—when matched with Sam Pinkleton’s Tony-winning dynamic direction—has the momentum of a freight train and it is a thrill to behold Monsoon in complete control of it throughout in the driver’s seat.
Oh, Mother! Jinkx, now officially the First Lady of Broadway, brings her special brand of magic to Mary, giving an unmissable tour-de-fierce turn. Monsoon makes the most of every second that she is on stage; mining every scripted line, breath, movement and piece of business for nuance and colour, building laugh upon laugh as she finds the beats within a beat. This zany role is the perfect showcase for her immaculate comic timing and instincts as an actor as she delivers a beautifully calibrated performance that finds the light and shade in the larger-than-life creation of Mary, with subtle shifts as well as major ones, like the sparing but impactful use of a gruff, demonic voice when she really wants to make herself heard. Jinkx brings just the right blend of cerebral meets silly to her work, along with the kind of physical comedy prowess that can’t be taught. The hoop-skirt-ography as she makes her way around the stage, and her struggle to find her way down from her husband’s desk are delectable.
Much of the fun of seeing the show for the first time comes from the surprises along the way, but the second time around, not only did those moments continue to hit, but it was satisfying to witness Jinkx and her fellow cast members bring their own takes to some of the play’s finest dialogue and physical humour. Like any truly great comedy, the lines only get funnier in revisiting them, enhanced by anticipation and a sense of being in on the joke.
The structure of Escola’s farce unfolds as a series of drawing-room comedy vignettes, each ending in an impeccably timed black out, deftly building the intensity of the audience’s laughter with every scene. Situated in the Oval Office for much of the play’s punchy 80-minute runtime, we are offered an intimate, fly-on-the-wall glimpse into the loveless marriage between Mary and her husband, Abe (Kumail Nanjiani). We witness the President’s determined attempts to distract Mary from embarrassing him with the repercussions of her heavy drinking and ambitions of returning to the cabaret stage, while he navigates the trials of the Civil War. When horseback riding, needlepoint, and art classes (which only become an opportunity for Mary to glug down a bucket of paint-thinner) fail to occupy his wife, Abe concedes to her theatrical ambitions and offers her an acting instructor, himself a frustrated thespian (Michael Urie).
Urie cuts a dashing figure in costume designer Holly Pierson’s vision for the character, complete with fitted jodhpurs and knee-high leather boots, serving us dreamy Disney Prince Charming realness. The chemistry between teacher and student is undeniable as he begins to bring out a coquettish and decidedly less offensive side of Mary, at least momentarily, and Urie makes for the perfect sparring partner for Monsoon. It is a delight to watch these gifted performers go toe to toe, with Urie giving a deliciously layered take on the role, capturing the precious, embittered actor type to a tee.
As Mary falls hard for her teacher’s charms, she bares her soul to the man in a beautifully-crafted, uncharacteristically self-reflective speech that concisely reveals the tender humanity of the woman that she has built up walls to protect with her abhorrent behaviour to all around her. Without losing any of Mary’s fire, in Jinkx’s hands this speech is delicate, poignant and deeply affecting in its simplicity and sincerity of expression, and left me weeping, as the tears merged with those of joy and laughter.
Jen Harris, as Mary’s Chaperone, perfectly pitches her portrayal of this long-suffering, endlessly patient woman who is finally teetering on the verge of exasperation. While Nanjiani’s Abe is at the end of his teether from the off, only becoming increasingly vexed by his wife’s actions, and his acute infuriation is a treat to behold, as is his fervent wrestling with God and his conscience to fight his lustful gay urges to “let off some steam” with his dutiful assistant. Nanjiani matches the intensity of Monsoon’s energy while expertly playing off her through the “straight” man dynamics of their double act.
Several of the show’s highlights come as Mary is alone on stage, including a scene set immediately downstage in front of the curtains, that sees her improvise a jaw-droppingly eccentric, fabulously bawdy take on the Nurse from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, complete with a Cockney accent that would make Angela Lansbury blush. It is a scene that’s pure vaudeville and demonstrates Jinkx’s utterly commanding stage presence and remarkable power as a performer; gloriously unrestrained, outlandish and hysterical, it had me howling.
In the show’s Playbill, Jinkx dedicates her performance to “all the queer actors who were worried there would never be roles for them, and to Cole, for creating some.” As I made my way out of the Lyceum, through the crowds on Times Square and cycled back Downtown, I felt a rush of emotion. After the tears of laughter streaming down my face during the show, my mood shifted to one of deep gratitude for having witnessed such a talented actor in her element thriving, as well as an appreciation for the very existence of this play.
In a time when there is such misinformation and hatred towards trans people coming from the real White House, and beyond, it is impossible not to take stock of the significance of being part of an audience at a sold-out Broadway theatre show that is being lead so flawlessly by Jinkx Monsoon. A trans performer starring in one of the biggest hits on Broadway in a gloriously queer, Tony-winning work, written by a queer nonbinary artist. As our national museums and cultural institutions are becoming increasingly monitored and censored by the executive branch, this defiantly queer take on history, however silly, feels powerful too. Watching Oh, Mary! in 2025 isn’t only to experience first-rate, sidesplittingly funny live entertainment, but in its own way this production feels like empowering resistance. It’s the kind of work that reminds us of a world we want to see that’s worth fighting for.
By James Kleinmann
Jinkx Monsoon stars in Oh, Mary! as Mary Todd Lincoln through Sunday, September 28th, 2025. Oh, Mary! is playing at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre until Sunday, January 4th,2026. For more details and to purchase tickets head to OhMaryPlay.com.