OH, MARY! Actor Reveals Dresser Offered to Get Her a ‘Diaper’ Due to Lack of ‘Potty Breaks’ in the Show

Playing Mary Todd Lincoln in Broadway’s Oh, Mary! is no easy task — just ask understudy Hannah Solow. 

Solow, who understudies the roles of Mary Todd Lincoln and Mary’s Chaperone/Bill in the hit comedic play by Cole Escola, spilled the tea on what it’s like playing the title role during the Wednesday, August 5, episode of the That’s A Gay Ass Podcast. 

During the podcast episode, host Eric Williams asked Solow if she has “any potty breaks during the show,” especially if she “accidentally ate cheese” on a sensitive stomach. 

“This is actually a really big issue for me, personally,” Solow explained. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this publicly, but I oftentimes take an Imodium before the show because I am scared that I’m going to have diarrhea, and I don’t have any bathroom breaks during the show.” 

During the 80-minute one-act, the character of Mary Todd Lincoln — who is dressed in an 1860s Civil War-era gown with a hoop skirt created by Costume Designer Holly Pierson — rarely leaves the stage. 

Mary’s Chaperone/Bill is often onstage as well — and dressed in similar period costumes. 

“I was genuinely so scared at first that my dresser offered to get me a diaper,” Solow confessed on the podcast. “And I said, ‘I can’t make my Broadway debut in a diaper. It’s not exactly how I envisioned, and I just don’t think we can go that far!’” 

“But I have to be really careful about what I eat so that I don’t have diarrhea during the show because that is a concern for us,” she added, referring to those with similar stomach issues. “Can you imagine — to get the costume off?” 

“This is the struggles that people aren’t talking about on Broadway,” she said, laughing.

As for Solow’s time in Oh, Mary! — which has welcomed iconic comedians and performers throughout its celebrated run at the Lyceum Theatre — the actress said that anything after this experience will be hard to compete with. 

“I am so lucky to do work that is exciting to me and stuff that I think is funny and cool and that I care about,” she said, adding that her “personal manifestation” after working on the show is to keep doing work in TV, film and Broadway “that I believe in.” 

“I would be so sad to be in a show that I thought was bad,” Solow admitted. “I just don’t know if I could do that. And I have been told many times that whatever happens after Oh, Mary!... this was such a unique experience. It’s going to be hard to compare to my Broadway debut, my Broadway principal debut, all these things wrapped up into one.” 

Oh, Mary! currently stars Meg Stalter in the title role through September 12. Bowen Yang will make his Broadway debut as Mary Todd Lincoln beginning September 15. 

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