Cole Escola's 'Oh, Mary!' to Hit HBO Screens in 2027
HBO will release a filmed version of Cole Escola's Broadway and West End hit 'Oh, Mary!' in 2027, captured during a London performance.
A filmed rendition of the acclaimed stage comedy Oh, Mary! is headed to HBO, with a debut set for 2027. The announcement came through a teaser that placed playwright and lead performer Cole Escola alongside Sex and the City actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon.
The special was recorded during the July 28, 2026 performance of the production in London. Escola appears as Mary Todd Lincoln, joined by Giles Terera as Mary's Husband, Bianca Leigh as Mary's Chaperone, Tony Macht as Mary's Husband's Assistant and Michael Urie as Mary's Teacher.
The dark comedy, described in its official logline as an 80-minute, one-act play, follows a "miserable, suffocated" Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks before Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Unrequited longing, alcoholism and repressed desires run through the story, which revisits the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln through the perspective of an idiot, as the logline puts it.
Sam Pinkleton, who directed the play's original Broadway run, also directed the HBO special. Executive producers include Escola, Alex Bach, Daniel Powell, Carlee Briglia, Mike Lavoie, Kevin McCollum and Lucas McMahon.
Reflecting on bringing the role back, Escola said the aim was to share the show with a wider audience and spread awareness of Oh, Mary!, adding that knowing about the play is the first step towards getting rid of it.
Pinkleton said his childhood love of theatre grew from repeatedly watching VHS tapes of Cats and Into The Woods, and that he was honoured to carry that legacy forward with Oh, Mary! on HBO. He called guiding the production through its many lives and Marys an ecstatic experience, and said he was delighted that Escola's work would be preserved on screens across America and beyond.
Oh, Mary! will arrive on HBO Max in 2027.