How Many More Broadway Faces Did You Spot in Only Murders in the Building? | Playbill

Special Features How Many More Broadway Faces Did You Spot in Only Murders in the Building? We're sending off season one with a second look the comedy's best Broadway cameos.
Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin in Only Murders in the Building Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu

Last we checked in with Hulu's homicidal comedy series Only Murders in the Building, we were at approximately the halfway point of the 10-episode season—and the show's cup ranneth over with theater folk and Broadway easter eggs. So much so that we didn't even have a chance to give shoutouts to some of its greatest Broadway cameos. Only Murders, which aired its final episode this past Tuesday, leaves behind a fandom (and a cliffhanger) that should all but ensure an equally theatrical season two. But as a momentary farewell, we've compiled a list of our most egregious snubs as well as some new familiar faces that helped Only Murders round out a deliciously dramatic debut.

[Editor's note: There are no spoilers, so read to your heart's content]

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Mandy Gonzalez

1. Mandy Gonzalez
Gonzalez appears in episode six, playing the mother of Selena Gomez's character, Mabel Mora. And even with that incredible pairing, Steve Martin and his fellow writers didn't find an excuse for them to duet. Broadway, of course, fell in love with Gonzalez as the original Nina in Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights, and she's since tackled iconic Broadway beltresses Elphaba in Wicked and Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton. She only makes it into a single episode, but considering her Fearless reputation, I wouldn't be surprised if she were asked to return for more of the comedy thriller next season.

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Jacob Ming-Trent Eugene Powers / Shutterstock.com

2. Jacob Ming-Trent
Jacob Ming-Trent also only graces our screens for one episode. He appears in episode five as Lucien, a good Samaritan who picks up stranded murder podcasters Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) and Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and tells them about his own horticulture podcast that he hosts with his cousin. His services end with this truck ride. But if you caught Ming-Trent's hilarious performance as Falstaff in Shakespeare in the Park's summer production of Merry Wives, you'll wish the drive was longer.

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Amy Ryan Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock.com

3. Amy Ryan
Amy Ryan might be best known to you as Holly, the nerdy Human Resources worker who won Michael Scott's heart in The Office, but she's one of the most seasoned Broadway veterans in the Only Murders cast. Her Broadway credits include Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig, Chekhov's The Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya, Clare Booth Luce's The Women, and Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, starring as Stella Kowalski alongside John C. Reilly and Natasha Richardson. She now gets the privilege of playing Steve Martin's love interest—a lovelorn bassoonist named Jan—and the two of them together are the perfect combination of classical artistry and high camp.

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Jane Lynch Shutterstock

4. Jane Lynch
You never know where Jane Lynch's comedic genius will take her next. And this time, it's led her to the role of Saz, Charles's former Brazzos stunt double, who, 30 years off the clock, continues to embrace his style of pork pie hat and tortoise shell specs. It's a bizarre cameo in episode nine but one she leans into with commitment—the same commitment she gave to ruthless cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on Glee, and the same commitment we can expect to see this spring when she joins Beanie Feldstein in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl as the ultimate Jewish mother Rosie Brice.

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Ali Stroker Joseph Marzullo/WENN

5. Ali Stroker and her fellow "Arconiacs"
Only Murders in the Building centers around an on-the-fly crime-solving podcast of the same name, and in episode eight, we get to meet a few members of its growing fan base. The episode opens with four "Arconiacs" (named after the titular building where Tim Kono was murdered and where all of our suspects and amateur detectives reside) picketing outside the Arconia waiting to catch a glimpse of their favorite audio celebrities. That troupe of misfits features none other than Tony Award winner Ali Stroker (Oklahoma!, Spring Awakening), Daniel Oreskes (West Side Story, Oslo), Jaboukie Young-White (The Daily Show), and the young Orson Hong, who you may remember singing about Macaroni on John Mulaney's musical special, The Sack Lunch Bunch. If only Oliver knew the talent sitting right outside his front door in folding chairs, he could easily cast his next Broadway hit.

 
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