Review Roundup: OH, MARY! Opens National Tour

Alaska Thunderf*ck stars as "Mary Todd Lincoln" in the national tour of Oh, Mary! The tour is now underway, having opened in Hartford, CT in September 2026. Read the reviews below!

Alongside Alaska Thunderf*ck as "Mary Todd Lincoln," the tour also stars Tony Award nominee John-Andrew Morrison as "Mary's Husband," Wesley Taylor as "Mary's Teacher," Pooya Mohseni as "Mary's Chaperone," and Michael Lepore as "Mary's Husband's Assistant." The company also includes Natalie Joy Johnson, Mike Cefalo, and Julius Thomas III.

Written by Tony and Olivier Award winner Cole Escola and directed by Tony Award winner Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! is a dark comedy about a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Unrequited yearning, alcoholism, and suppressed desires abound in this one-act play that finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln through the lens of an idiot (playwright Cole Escola).

Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant: For a skilled drag artist like Alaska, “Oh, Mary!’ builds toward her greatest strengths, ending in a madcap musical fantasy. But she is also a skilled comedian of the pratfall-that-exposes-your-knickers variety. Physically, she towers over all the other cast members, especially Morrison, making for some classic Maggie-and-Jiggs or Marge-and-Homer marital spats.

Lucia Serrano, BroadwayWorld: The comedy in this Broadway hit goes well beyond innuendo, landing in unapologetically raunchy and vulgar territory. It won't be for everyone, but it doesn't try to be. Alaska’s Mary is glitzy, unpredictable and laugh-out-loud funny, but she is also more relatable—and more perceptive—than she initially lets on. You leave rooting for her independence, no matter how she chooses to get there.

ErinMarie Reiter, BroadwayWorld: At the center of it all is Alaska Thunderf*ck as Mary, who conives, cajoles, and crashes through anyone in her way back to the cabaret. Her physical comedy is as important as her delivery: the exaggerated costumes, increasingly ridiculous expressions, dramatic movements and wonderfully wonky silhouette all become part of the joke. Mary doesn’t simply enter a scene; she takes possession of it.

Sandi Masori, San Diego Jewish World: The sets are nice but it’s really Thunderf*ck that makes it all happen. She is captivating both as Mary and as Mary the cabaret singer, and it’s hard to take your eyes off her, and why would you want to? She’s incredible.

Drew Sitton, Downtown News: “Oh, Mary!” is a one-act, 80-minute play with no intermission. It could have been four hours with no intermission and I would have stayed, despite the risk of peeing my pants from laughing. In that 80 minutes, it packs in slapstick, absurdist, dark, sharp, campy, ridiculous, overly sexual and occasionally smart humor. It is offensive and raunchy in the best way possible.

Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune: Thunderf*ck’s Mary is over-the-top funny with great timing, wicked eye rolls, deadpan line delivery and acidic sarcasm. As the play progresses, she adds new layers to Mary including some, shall we say, unique cabaret skills. With heels, Thunderf*ck’s Mary is well over six feet tall, so she towers over her husband and acting teacher, adding another layer of visual comedy to the show.

Randy McMullin, Marin Independent Journal: “Oh, Mary!” delivers plenty of chuckles but few belly laughs. A play that is set inside the White House makes no real effort to lampoon contemporary Washington, D.C., or the rich river of absurdities that politics represents. What we are left with is something of a character study that is largely dependent on an actor who, while clearly gifted, isn’t given enough to work with.

Jay Barmann, SFist: What's brilliant about Escola's tightly constructed, 75-minute play is that, even with all the raunchy jokes and camp sensibility, it sits just on the edgier fringe of mainstream humor — especially when we live in a time when the mainstream includes things like Rupaul's Drag Race and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And while it might still make some older, more straight-laced audience members bristle, it has succeeded in drawing people in to its Off-Broadway subversiveness and its goofy re-rendering of a sacred chapter of American history.

Average Rating: 85.0%