Bratty curls in a box? Broadway's Oh, Mary! has found its next new star in Hedwig and the Angry Inch writer and original star John Cameron Mitchell, who will join the Cole Escola hit at the Lyceum Theatre for a 12-week limited engagement February 3–April 26, 2026.
“Cole Escola and Sam Pinkleton are the wild horses that dragged me back to drag and I couldn't be happier!” says Mitchell in a statement. “As the most mature Mary yet, my days are filled with working the StairMaster™, mainlining Ozempic® and mastering my Brilliant Dialogue©. ‘Line?!’ Thank you, Cole. May I do you proud mangling your classic!” Mitchell is the creator of the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which he starred in on film and also on Broadway. He is a recipient of an honorary Tony Award.
“Welcoming John into this cast feels both delicious and somehow inevitable,” adds Tony-winning director Pinkleton. “So many of us in the Oh, Mary! universe, myself very much included, wouldn’t be where we are without John’s work, which reshaped what live performance could look and feel like for generations of tender weirdos. He’s a queer trailblazer, cultural icon, brilliant actor—and, most importantly for his new role, a giant idiot.”
Mitchell's run will follow an encore bow from Jinkx Monsoon, who is herself set to succeed current star Jane Krakowski beginning January 8 (Hannah Solow will star in the title role January 6-7). Supporting cast for Mitchell's tenure is to be announced.
Krakowski is currently supported by Cheyenne Jackson as Mary's Teacher (through January 25, 2026), and John-Andrew Morrison as Mary's Husband, Jenn Harris as Mary's Chaperone, and Tony Macht as Mary's Husband's Assistant, all currently slated to continue through February 1, 2026.
READ: Jinkx Monsoon's Political Platform? 'Fire All The Men'
Escola's comedy centers on Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In Escola's demented take (or as press notes put it, "through the lens of an idiot"), Mary Todd becomes a madcap, cabaret-obsessed alcoholic.
The piece premiered at Off-Broadway's Lucille Lortel Theatre in 2024 in a run that was extended three times. It then transferred to Broadway later that year, where it's been breaking box-office records at the Lyceum Theatre; it became the first show in the theatre’s 121-year history to gross more than $1,000,000 in a single week.
The show earned two 2025 Tony Awards: Lead Actor in a Play for Escola (who departed the production in June) and Director of a Play for Sam Pinkleton.
The play's understudies are Solow, Julian Manjerico, Sean Peter Forte, and Jackie Sanders.
READ: Director Sam Pinkleton on the Art of Recasting Oh, Mary!
Oh, Mary's creative team includes scenic designer dots, costume designer Holly Pierson, lighting designer Cha See, composer and co-sound designer Daniel Kluger, co-sound designer Drew Levy, wig designer Leah J. Loukas, and music arranger David Dabbon. Casting is by Henry Russell Bergstein. Bryan Bauer and Ryan Patrick Kane are production stage manager and assistant stage manager, respectively.
