Tony Winner Sam Pinkleton Never Thought Oh, Mary! Would Be a Broadway Hit
The play’s director opens up about what theater audiences really want and the process of creating a surprise smash.
Sam Pinkleton with his best director Tony at Radio City Music Hall in New York on June 8.
Photographer: John Nacion/Variety via Getty ImagesThe riotously funny Oh, Mary!—a show that imagines Mary Todd Lincoln as an alcoholic and aspiring cabaret singer—won big at the Tony Awards on June 8, nabbing a best actor trophy for nonbinary comedian Cole Escola as Mary and a best director award for Sam Pinkleton. A veteran choreographer, Pinkleton was previously nominated for choreography in 2016 for Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, but Oh, Mary! is his first Broadway directing credit.
The scrappy show started with a sold-out off-Broadway run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in the West Village before transferring to the Lyceum Theatre last summer and has since broken box-office records. The wildly inventive, madcap show has been a critical and commercial smash, with talent including Tituss Burgess and Betty Gilpin donning the curly wig and black dress to play Lincoln. Star Escola is back in another limited run on Broadway, which has been extended through September. Despite Oh, Mary! ’s massive success, Pinkleton says he and Escola had no inkling the production could become as big as it has.