Learn about all the performers who have starred in 'Oh, Mary!'

As Cole Escola and Jinkx Monsoon reprise their incredible performances in the West End, revisit brilliant Marys from Tituss Burgess to Mason Alexander Park on both sides of the pond.

Summary

• Cole Escola is making their West End debut in Oh Mary!
• The award-winning show has welcomed numerous stars both in London and on Broadway
• Mason Alexander Park was the UK's first Mary
• Other hit performers include Tituss Burgess and Jinkx Monsoon

Just when you thought the fabulously outrageous West End production of Oh, Mary! couldn’t be more of a must-see, here comes the show’s creator and original star, Cole Escola, to reprise their hilarious Tony Award-winning performance as Mary Todd Lincoln – followed by another amazing Broadway veteran, RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon.

That continues an astonishing casting run for Oh, Mary!, which has seen incredible performers on both sides of the pond sink their teeth into this role – a very loose interpretation of the former First Lady as an alcoholic diva who longs to be a cabaret star. Get to know the Oh, Mary! stars in the West End and on Broadway ahead of Escola and Monsoon’s fabulous London arrivals.

Book Oh, Mary! tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Cole Escola

Escola, who also dreamed up and wrote Oh, Mary!, was the role’s uproarious originator. They first played Mary in the Off Broadway premiere at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, and then transferred with the show to Broadway later in 2024, where they became the first non-binary winner of a Best Actor Tony Award. Escola left and then returned to the show in 2025, and soon we’ll get to see their impish theatre magic in the UK as Escola takes over the role in the West End production at the Trafalgar Theatre.

Escola's work also includes TV shows like Mozart in the Jungle, Difficult People, At Home with Amy Sedaris, Search Party, Ziwe, and The Simpsons.

Betty Gilpin

Gilpin was the first performer to take over the role from Escola on Broadway – and to make a great success of it. The talented actress has had a wide-ranging screen and stage career, including striking roles in TV series GLOW, Gaslit, Mrs Davis, Death by Lightning, and Widow’s Bay, movies Office Romance and the upcoming Social Reckoning, and theatre shows like That Face, An Intervention, and Barcelona.

Tituss Burgess

The beloved Burgess, who rose to fame playing Titus Andromedon on Netflix comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (for which he received five Emmy nominations), was next to take on Mary on Broadway. He also featured on season two of musical TV series Schmigadoon!, and, on stage, his numerous shows include The Wiz, Jersey Boys, originating Sebastian the Crab in The Little Mermaid, Guys and Dolls, and Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

Jinkx Monsoon

RuPaul’s Drag Race champion Monsoon had long been renowned for her comedy and musical performances in cabaret before she made her Broadway debut as Mama Morton in Chicago. More theatre roles followed, with Little Shop of Horrors and Pirates! The Penzance Musical, as well as a guest appearance on Doctor Who, before she became Mary Todd Lincoln. Monsoon was recently seen in the London production of End of the Rainbow, and soon will be leading the West End production of Oh, Mary!, reprising her acclaimed sold-out performance.

Jane Krakowski

She will forever be Jenna Maroney to 30 Rock fans, but the brilliant comic actress has countless credits beyond her popular sitcom. They include Ally McBeal, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Schmigadoon! on TV, and Starlight Express, Guys and Dolls (for which she won an Olivier Award), Nine (Tony Award), She Loves Me, and Here We Are on stage. She also made a perfectly zany Mary as she stepped into the role on Broadway.

Mason Alexander Park

Park was the first performer to star in the show when it made its UK premiere at the Trafalgar Theatre in 2025 – and, brilliantly led by Park, Oh, Mary! was ecstatically received, winning an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play. The versatile performer’s other work includes Cabaret, The Tempest, and Much Ado About Nothing in the West End, and TV shows Cowboy Bebop, The Sandman, and Quantum Leap.

John Cameron Mitchell

Back on Broadway, Mary had an incredible new inhabitant: the legendary co-creator and star of queer rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Mitchell won Best Director at Sundance and was nominated for a Golden Globe for the movie version of Hedwig. His other work includes TV shows Girls, The Good Fight, GLOW, and The Sandman, and movies Rabbit Hole, Shortbus, and How to Talk to Girls at Parties.

Maya Rudolph

The wonderfully funny and talented Rudolph was next to charge into Oh, Mary! on Broadway. A Saturday Night Live breakout star, the multi-Emmy-Award-winning performer has also appeared in hit movies such as Bridesmaids, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Luca, Licorice Pizza, and Disenchanted, and TV shows Up All Night, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Big Mouth, The Good Place, and Loot.

Catherine Tate

Following Park’s reign, the West End production of Oh, Mary! welcomed the legendary British comedian and actress. She shot to fame thanks to her hugely popular sketch series The Catherine Tate Show, and also played companion Donna in Doctor Who. Her other work includes The Nan Movie, The Office, Big School, and, on stage, Seasons Greetings, Much Ado About Nothing (opposite David Tennant), Assassins, and Sleeping Beauty.

Meg Stalter

Broadway’s latest rampaging Mary is the inimitable comedian and actress. She has become a beloved TV fixture thanks to her scene-stealing role as Kayla on the award-winning series Hacks, and recently starred in Lena Dunham’s romantic comedy Too Much. She has also appeared in projects like A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter, Queer as Folk, and RuPaul’s Drag Race, and has parallel careers as a sketch comic and a singer. Mary would be proud!

Main photo credit: Cole Escole in Oh, Mary! (Photo by Emilio Madrid). Inset: Oh, Mary! on Broadway and in the West End (Photos by Emilio Madrid, Daniel Rampulla and Manuel Harlan)