Tituss Burgess is about to don Mary Todd Lincoln’s bouncy curls and voluminous gowns.
The “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” star will take over the lead role in Broadway’s “Oh, Mary!” after Betty Gilpin leaves the show on March 16. Gilpin replaced Cole Escola, who originated the part of Mrs. Lincoln, the presidential spouse and aspiring cabaret performer, in the stage hit. Escola also wrote the show, which puts a comic spin on history (Abraham Lincoln is a closeted gay man with a roving eye in this production, while Mary Todd, frustrated at being his beard and life in the White House, hits the sauce).
“‘Oh, Mary!’ blew me away when I saw it on Broadway. Cole Escola is a genius!” Burgess said. “The show is fresh and impossibly funny. 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.”
Burgess is a familiar presence on Broadway, having appeared in the likes of “Moulin Rouge!,” “Guys and Dolls” and “The Little Mermaid.” He’s also done a lot of work on the big and small screen. He recently starred in Netflix’s animated musical “Spellbound,” popped up in the second season of the Apple TV+ musical comedy ”Schmigadoon!” and appeared in the films “Set It Up” and “Dolemite Is My Name.”
Last year, Burgess debuted his own musical adaptation of “The Preacher’s Wife” at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre. The show is based on the 1996 film starring Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington. Burgess is repped by CAA, Artists First, and Peikoff Mahan.
“Oh, Mary!” is directed by Tony Award nominee Sam Pinkleton. It opened on Broadway on July 11, 2024, at the Lyceum Theatre, where it became the first show in the theater’s 121-year history to gross more than $1 million in a single week. “Oh, Mary!” has since broken its own box office record 11 times. The show previously had a successful Off-Broadway run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
