An ensemble of celebrities from both stage and cinema congregated yesterday evening at New York’s Lyceum Theatre to commemorate the Broadway debut of Oh, Mary!, the play penned by and featuring Cole Escola in the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, reinterpreted here as an inebriate aspirant cabaret entertainer.
The oppressive 91-degree weather did not deter the play’s crowd of prominent supporters from honoring this delightfully non-traditional (and universally praised) first-lady satire. With the bustling activity of Times Square as a setting, Ruth Negga withstood the climate in a crochet outfit, with Escola’s companion and regular partner in creative ventures Amy Sedaris just in her wake. Rebecca Hall and Morgan Spector graciously posed with an Oh, Mary! prop while Spector’s Gilded Age co-artist Ben Ahlers traversed the carpet (no hints about season three from either). Kaia Gerber upheld the hot brunette summer theme as she and Austin Butler slipped in shortly before the show began. (Other attendees included Patti LuPone, Molly Ringwald, Maude Apatow, Kara Young, and Matthew Broderick.)
Oh, Mary!’s lead and originator selected a sleek, black corset gown from CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund nominee Jackson Wiederhoeft, exuding the essence of John Singer Sargent’s Madame X. “I feel over the moon,” Escola remarked before entering the venue to transition into Mary, maneuvering around supporters eager for selfies. “It’s akin to a birthday, Christmas, and a first date combined.”