It’s late afternoon at the legendary Sardi’s, and Jane Krakowski is on a break from rehearsals. The room is filled with caricatures of great Broadway performers of past and present, and Krakowski, cross-legged in a bar chair, is laughing. It’s an open, crystalline sound that fills the room. She looks both entirely at ease and slightly electric, the way performers do when they are just days away from performance. “I have to conserve my energy,” she says, smiling, “because I’m about to get into eight shows a week.” It is half a joke, half a vow of endurance, and it lands with the warmth of someone who has long known what it costs to make art look effortless.

The Tony winner has returned to Broadway after nine years away. Until January 4, Krakowski will be at the Lyceum Theatre starring in Oh, Mary!, Cole Escola’s unhinged historical fantasia about Mary Todd Lincoln—a fever dream of camp, melodrama, and comic precision. The role feels inevitable, perfect for her particular blend of daffiness and control. “From the first time I saw Oh, Mary! downtown [Off-Broadway],” she says, “I was sitting in my seat marveling at everything that was up on that stage, and sort of in the back of my head going, that’s an incredible part to play.” 

She pauses, as if still struck by the luck of it all. “I’m so thrilled to be Mary number five.”

Watch Jane Krakowski's interview with Playbill's Director of Social Media Jeffrey Vizcaíno below, where she talks about who inspires her Mary Todd Lincoln.

If Krakowski is synonymous with comedic sparkle, she is also one of the few actors who can take the word camp and imbue it with reverence. She does not flinch at the theatrical excess of Escola’s world; she inhales it. 

“I think it’s giving into the bit and playing it to the hilt, you know? More than 100 percent,” she says. “That’s when I think the show is thrilling. It certainly is for audience members. But now, rehearsing it and being in it, when you give yourself over to it and just let it ride, is when it is so, so fun.” The repetition of "so, so fun" is classic Krakowski: a little girlish, a little winking, and completely sincere.

Krakowski has always been good at surrendering to a bit. From 30 Rock to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, her characters (preening, delusional, and strangely tender) are studies in extreme self-awareness, the kind that borders on liberation. “I do think when comedy is written really well, there are parallels,” she says. “There is a comedic energy, a comedic style, and just comedy abound that is similar to the world of 30 Rock in this show.” She has the tone of someone who knows her instrument, who understands how timing and silliness can coexist with elegance.

Still, Oh, Mary! brings a different kind of challenge. The show’s fans, already feral in their devotion, have memorized its every beat. Krakowski seems both delighted and daunted by their fervor. 

“I have received many texts of people saying, ‘I can’t wait to hear you say this line,’” she says. “What I’ve realized is that the returning audiences know the lines very well, and they’ve become iconic to them, so they are waiting for them. So paraphrasing is not an option. And I hope there’s going to be a point in my run that I know the lines better than maybe some audience members.” She smiles at this (perhaps half out of fear, half from the thrill), as though the prospect of being outpaced by her audience is part of the fun.

And her journey back to Broadway has been as much about timing as it was about trust. “I expressed my love for the show very publicly and verbally,” Krakowski recalls, “but right before I was asked to be in Oh, Mary!, I did get to work with [its director] Sam Pinkleton at the National Theater on Here We Are. And so, I think, maybe a few late-night drinks may have helped.” She smiles and winks. “I’m not sure.” The laugh that follows is knowing, the sound of an artist aware of how much luck, timing, and camaraderie shape a career. “It’s been very exciting to feel the goodwill and excitement of me coming to be in this show,” she adds softly. “That has just been so heartwarming.”

Asked how she’s preparing for such a physical role (Mary Todd is all tantrum, corsetry, and chaos), Krakowski lifts an eyebrow. “Well, just imagine how fantastic I’m going to look at the Christmas dinner table.” She breaks into laughter again, and the room seems to brighten. For all her polish, Krakowski’s humor is like champagne; it bubbles up before she can smooth it over.

Part of the delight of Oh, Mary! lies in its lineage so far of great performers, each one offering a new shade of absurdity. Krakowski speaks of them with fondness, especially her friend (and 30 Rock and Kimmy Schmidt star) Tituss Burgess, who donned the character's hoop skirt earlier this year. Krakowski recalls asking him how he felt during his run, “And he said, ‘It’s the hardest thing you’re ever going to do.’” She reacts with her eyes wide, an exaggerated grimace on her face. But in true comedic fashion. she quickly adds, “Then he wrote me yesterday and said, ‘You know when you hear that drum boom [at the top of the show]: IBS.” 

She feigns panic. “What am I supposed to do with that?! Truly, make me any more scared than I’m already going to be. So helpful!” She shakes her head, laughing at the memory.

But Krakowski isn’t taking over the White House alone. She has two co-stars joining the company who have been rehearsing alongside her. “We have Cheyenne Jackson and John Andrew Morrison, who are just the dearest,” she says. “I’m so thrilled that we have gotten to look into each other’s eyes and have a week in a rehearsal hall to really take each other in and make the show our own.” The two Broadway alums play Mary’s Tutor and Mary’s Husband, respectively.

It’s impossible not to feel the affection Krakowski carries for the stage, the way she still speaks of it with the awe of someone who began performing as a teenager and somehow never lost the charge. “Nothing would thrill me more,” she says of her fans following her back to Broadway. “Because this is my favorite community, and I think this play is worth everyone seeing [it].” She pauses, then adds, “I’m also wowed by the zeitgeist power and aura that the show is currently in. And I love that this is a show where audience members are returning for each Mary. I can’t think of a show in recent history where that has happened [with] such lovely fervor. I’ve seen every Mary more than once, and so I’m thrilled to be a part of that lineage. I hope people will come back for the Krakowski administration.”

And what, exactly, would that administration stand for? Krakowski leans forward, conspiratorial. “I don’t want to say anything too politically racy at this time; it doesn’t feel safe, does it?” she says. Then, without missing a beat: “Fellas, number one: Protect the dolls. Number two: Love the community and love each other.” A mantra and gift. The art of giving in all the way to joy.