The cast surrounding Mary speaks in the elevated tone of melodrama: Tony Macht bright and eager as Abe’s assistant, Simon; Bianca Leigh draggy and affectedly prim as Mary’s chaperone, Louise. Conrad Ricamora, as Abe, and James Scully, as Mary’s acting teacher, couldn’t be further from their performances in the movie “Fire Island.” Gone is Ricamora’s Mr. Darcy-like reserve and Scully’s bland kindness, replaced by comically feverish intensity and passion.
It’s all highly stylized, and it’s all real theater. “Oh, Mary!” could have been a single sketch, or a succession of them, but instead it’s a clearly plotted comedy-turned-drama-turned … actually, let’s not spoil the climax other than to say there are gasp-worthy twists.
The scenic design, by the collective Dots, has the cheesy naturalism of community theater until it is stripped nearly bare for a finale by way of “Chicago” by way of “Gypsy” by way of, well, Cole Escola. Sam Pinkleton’s direction is breathlessly athletic, never letting the script sag as the actors leap across the stage and over furniture; the presidential desk alone gets quite the workout.
Pay close attention to the theater’s lobby, which has been decorated with a fake retrospective of Martha Swope-like photographs: of Escola as a Cassie on crutches in “A Chorus Line,” as the star of a John Doyle “Death of a Salesman,” as a mane-haired Deirdre O’Connell in “Dana H.”
Not only funny, these amount to Escola’s act of planting a flag in queer theater, after years of wickedly dancing on its periphery. And thank God, in a moment of so much comedy and theater that aspires to relevance, Escola follows the example of “Dicks: The Musical” and “Spamalot” in going for something more timeless: stupidity.
Oh, Mary!
Through May 5 at the Lucille Lortel Theater, Manhattan; ohmaryplay.com. Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes.
