Tituss Burgess is returning to Broadway, for a limited three-week run in the hit comedy Oh, Mary!
The six-time Emmy nominee will lead the play as Mary Todd Lincoln from March 18 through April 6. He’ll be the third actor to “don the infamous bratty curls,” as a release puts it, following Betty Gilpin, who is currently in the role, and playwright and original star Cole Escola.
“Oh, Mary! blew me away when I saw it on Broadway,” Burgess, 45, said in a statement. “Cole Escola is a genius! The show is fresh and impossibly funny.”
He added, “I understand the role of Mary Todd Lincoln maybe a little too well. I’m over the moon with joy that I get to join the company at The Lyceum Theatre.”
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This will be Burgess’ sixth Broadway credit. Prior to his breakout role in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the actor was treading the boards in musicals like Good Vibrations, Jersey Boys, The Little Mermaid and Guys and Dolls.
He was last on stage as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, over the 2023 holiday season.
Oh, Mary! follows the miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
The absurdist comedy has been a must-see since its June 2024 debut, with critics and audiences praising its nonstop laughs. Oh, Mary!‘s Off-Broadway run last February earned Escola, 38, a slew of trophies, including the Obie, Drama Desk, Theatre World, and Outer Critics Circle awards.
Experts predict similar love will come the show’s way for this June’s 2025 Tony Awards, theater’s highest honor.
In the 121-year history of the Lyceum Theatre, Oh, Mary! is the first show to gross more than $1 million in a single week, and has since broken its own box-office record 11 times.
Audiences have kept it a hot ticket, too. According to data provided by the Broadway League, in its 31 weeks on Broadway so far, Oh, Mary! has played to full capacity for 27 — a rare fete for a play, and even more for a new title that’s not a long-running hit like Wicked, The Lion King or Hamilton.
In addition to Gilpin, 38, Oh, Mary! currently stars Phillip James Brannon as Mary’s Husband, Chris Renfro as Mary’s Teacher, Bianca Leigh as Mary’s Chaperone and Tony Macht as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant. Hannah Solow, Martin Landry and Julian Manjerico complete the company.
The play is directed by Sam Pinkleton.
Tickets for Oh, Mary! are now on sale at ohmaryplay.com.
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