I can’t say much about the plot of Oh, Mary!, which is playing at Broadway San Diego through October 4th, without wandering into spoiler territory, but I can tell you this: Mary is scheming, mischievous, and deeply annoyed that she isn't the center of everyone’s world. She is a star - in her own mind, if nowhere else,

She may not know exactly what country she is First Lady of—or whether there's a war happening and who it is with—but she does know she longs for her days onstage at the (gasp!) cabaret. And Mary is willing to do just about anything to get back there.

Cole Escola’s wildly absurd, historically inaccurate farce has made its way from Broadway to the national tour, and the transition works beautifully. The premise is about as educational as a Looney Tunes cartoon: Mary Todd Lincoln is reimagined as a hard-drinking, self-absorbed aspiring cabaret star who feels trapped by her husband and longs for the spotlight.

John-Andrew Morrison and Alaska Thunderf*ck in OH, MARY! First National Tour.
Photo by Emilio Madrid.

At the center of it all is Alaska Thunderf*ck as Mary, who conives, cajoles, and crashes through anyone in her way back to the cabaret. Her physical comedy is as important as her delivery: the exaggerated costumes, increasingly ridiculous expressions, dramatic movements and wonderfully wonky silhouette all become part of the joke. Mary doesn’t simply enter a scene; she takes possession of it.

The five-person ensemble works beautifully together, with John-Andrew Morrison, Wesley Taylor, Pooya Mohseni and Michael Lepore each contributing to the escalating insanity. A nice touch, and a reminder that this is Mary's world and we all just reside in it, is that in the program their characters are listed as "Mary's Husband," "Mary's Teacher," etc... The humor is queer and crass, dark and campy, and somehow manages to be both completely ridiculous and make you wonder what will happen next.

That last part is important. Oh, Mary! could have been a series of increasingly outrageous sketches, but Escola’s writing actually builds a story. Seemingly throwaway jokes return with increasingly satisfying payoffs, and the show knows when to end a scene rather than stay too long. The structure almost has a sitcom/commercial-break rhythm: a scene ends, we move on, and suddenly we’re somewhere in a different situation that is somehow even more absurd.

Sam Pinkleton’s direction keeps everything moving. The staging is athletic, with actors leaping across the stage and over furniture, and the presidential desk getting quite the workout. Dots' scenic design has a deliberately cheesy naturalism, then transforms as the show heads toward its increasingly outrageous conclusion.

And that conclusion? I’m saying nothing.

So stupid. So campy. And worthy of a star like Mrs. Lincoln herself.

There is plenty of adult language and material here, so consider that your warning. I did see a few people walk out during the performance, and honestly, I think that’s great. Not because I want people to leave, but because Oh, Mary! knows exactly what kind of show it is. It is unapologetically in your face, absurd, and ridiculous, and it makes absolutely no attempt to be for everyone.

People walking out may be the highest compliment the show could ask for from some audience members.

For everyone else? Welcome to the Thunderf*ck Administration.