Two Minute Broadway Review-"OH, MARY" - OH BOY...

Another two minute review - indulge me - these are short and fun - and if you're headed to NY and looking for a show - this can help.

Cole Escola (Mary Todd Lincoln) and Conrad Ricamora (Abraham Lincoln) in “Oh, Mary!”

Let me put it right out there. This show isn’t for everyone - but if it’s even sort of for you - get ready for 90 minutes of continuous laughter at the most politically incorrect, historically inaccurate, tasteless, over-the-line, tawdry, and wholly original show you may ever see.

Nominated for 5 Tony’s, Broadway’s equivalent to the Oscars, Cole Escola’s original work was off-broadway for a minute, then jumped to the big time, and is breaking box office marks with every ticket sold.

Escola, a comedian who has done niche film and TV work, always brings an original head and off-color ideas to any project. Cole’s work here is the result of an idea that germinated a decade ago. Cole thought - “what if Mary Lincoln, a person known to struggle with alcoholism and depression, got a new lease on life after her husband died and had the chance to explore her dreams and goals?”

Fast forward to the finished product - in the days leading up to the assassination, Mary and Abe are at odds, and fighting over everything from Mary’s drinking, to Abes extramarital dalliances (again - not historically accurate).

Lincoln is dealing with the pressures of the end of the war and the impending reconstruction, while Mary, totally OUT on anything her husband is doing, dreams of rekindling her inauspicious and short-lived career as a Cabaret singer.

Self-absorbed and totally off-her-rocker - Mary asks her husband for help getting back into show business. Only to keep her busy - the President hires a young local actor (wanna guess which local actor??) as her acting coach.

And the game is afoot.