The Tony Award and Olivier Award-winning play Oh, Mary! will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max in 2027. Starring and written by Tony Award winner Cole Escola, and directed for the stage and screen by Tony Award winner Sam Pinkleton, the film will star the following actors reprising their roles: Escola as Mary Todd Lincoln, Olivier Award winner Giles Terera as Mary’s Husband, Bianca Leigh as Mary’s Chaperone, Tony Macht as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant, and Emmy nominee Michael Urie as Mary’s Teacher.
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 80-minute, one-act play that finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln, through the lens of an idiot.
“Some shows stay with you long after you’ve seen them. Oh, Mary! is one of them,” said Nina Rosenstein, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming, Late Night and Specials. “It’s 80 minutes of meticulously choreographed chaos…so wildly original that everyone who sees it immediately needs someone else to see it too. Cole has pulled off the almost impossible…they created a comedy that feels completely unlike anything else, while making it look effortless. We’re so incredibly proud to welcome Escola and Pinkleton’s Oh, Mary! to HBO.”
“I’m so happy to share this show with a wider audience and spread Oh, Mary! awareness,” said Escola. “Knowing about Oh, Mary! is the first step in getting rid of it.”
“I fell in love with theater as a kid by absolutely wearing out the VHS tapes of Cats and Into The Woods and I am honored to continue that legacy with Oh, Mary! on HBO,” Pinkleton said. “Shepherding Oh, Mary! through its many lives (and Marys) has been an ecstatic experience and I’m giddy that the genius of original idiot Escola will now be immortalized on televisions across America and beyond.”
About Oh, Mary!
Oh, Mary! opened Off Broadway in January 2024 before transferring to Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre in July 2024, where it became the first show in the theater’s 121-year history to gross over $1 million in a single week. Oh, Mary! has since broken its own box office record fifteen times and became the first show of the 2024-25 Broadway season to recoup its investment. It premiered on the West End in December 2025 and will launch a North American tour this month.
The live capture of Oh, Mary! is executive produced by Escola, Alex Bach and Daniel Powell for Irony Point, Carlee Briglia and Mike Lavoie for Mike & Carlee Productions, and Kevin McCollum and Lucas McMahon for Alchemation.
The special is the filmed version of the July 28, 2026 performance that took place at the Trafalgar Theatre in London’s West End.
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