Ugly Betty star set to join Jinkx Monsoon in Cole Escola’s Tony Award-winning show Oh, Mary!

Cole Escola’s Tony Award-winning play Oh, Mary! has somehow just got even gayer: Ugly Betty actor Michael Urie is joining the cast.

Escola’s Broadway smash hit Oh, Mary! is a dark comedy about the weeks leading up to the assassination of president Abraham Lincoln. However, the viewpoint is switched, and the focus is on Lincoln’s “miserable, suffocated” wife, Mary Todd Lincoln.

“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,” reads a synopsis.

Mary Todd Lincoln’s life is examined “through the lens of an idiot”, aka the show’s creator, Escola.

Cole Escola played the lead role in the show until the end of June, and managed to make history in the process. At the Tony Awards last month, he became the first non-binary actor to win in the “Best Actor in a Play” category.

The role is currently being performed by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt actor Titus Burgess, with RuPaul’s Drag Race winner and fellow Broadway star Jinkx Monsoon taking over from 4 August until 27 September.

By the very nature of having a trans-femme non-binary drag queen in its leading role, the upcoming iteration of Oh, Mary! is set to be the queerest show on Broadway. Yet Monsoon will also be joined on stage by fellow queer acting icon, Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie.

Urie will play Mary’s teacher in the hit show, while The Big Sick and Silicon Valley star Kumail Nanjiani will play Abraham Lincoln. Actress Jenn Harris will play Mary’s chaperone during the run.

Michael Urie is best known for playing Marc St. James, executive assistant to the fabulously devious Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams) in Ugly Betty in the late 2000s.

In recent years, he’s become known for starring in Apple TV’s comedy drama Shrinking, in which he plays Brian, a lawyer and best friend to protagonist Jimmy (Jason Segel).

Earlier this week, Urie scored his first ever Emmy Award in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category for his Shrinking role.

Oh, Mary! began as an off-Broadway production in early 2024, before moving over to Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre in mid 2024.

It garnered largely positive reviews from critics, and has since scored a number of accolades, including Escola’s Tony gong and another Tony Award in the Best Direction of a Play category, for the show’s director Sam Pinkleton.

It was also nominated at the Tony Awards in the Best Play and Best Costume Design of a Play categories, while queer How To Get Away With Murder actor Conrad Ricamora was also nominated in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play category.

Oh, Mary! is currently listed as on Broadway until 4 January 2026.

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