Oh, Mary!'s amazing understudy (or wonderstudy) Hannah Solow got to go on in the title role at November 11 and 13 performances at the Lyceum Theatre. It was the first times the work has ever been performed without writer Cole Escola leading the company. Playbill was in the house for the truly hilarious November 13 performance, and checked in with Solow after to find out how things went from her side of the stage.

A veteran pro of the comedy and musical theatre scenes (most recently as Gertie Cummings in the national tour of the Tony-winning Daniel Fish-directed revival of Oklahoma!), it's no surprise that Solow was hilarious. But she's also nimble on her feet. Fast paced and directed with laser focus by Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! would be a difficult endeavor even with lots of rehearsal time and weeks of performances under your belt. Solow went on as the lone new actor in a company that's been performing together since last spring, having to make her mark in a role that has become somewhat synonymous with Escola.

How did Solow, who understudies two roles in the show, make the role of Mary her own—and make it look nearly effortless? Read on to find out. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

First things first. What did you do to Cole to get these performances?
Hannah Solow: They’re still locked up in a closet at the Lyceum. I actually need to go untie them soon.

No, but Cole is truly the best, most humble and kind leader of our company. They came to me, I think, six weeks ago and were like, “Hey, I’m going to take a few days off. I have to go do something, and I’m just letting you know now.” It was sort of insane to know six weeks in advance, to be able to plan for this day, to have a heads up and have everyone come. When I went on for Bianca [Leigh, playing Mary’s Chaperone] Off-Broadway the first time, I think I had 20 minutes notice, so it was just a completely different understudy experience.

What has your process been making sure you’re ready to go on?
Lots of unofficially rehearsing, like constantly. We rehearse lines backstage all the time, because the text is so important and there’s so much of it. And the pacing is so important to the play. That was one of my big goals. I did not want to affect the pacing. I wanted to feel like we’re doing the show as it’s been directed, as it’s been written. I constantly rehearse the lines backstage with the other understudies, and we’ve had a few rehearsals leading up to this. I had a put-in I think two weeks ago, and then I’ve just been wandering the streets mumbling things to myself. I would go to my voice lesson on the Upper East Side, and then I would walk to the theatre and just rehearse the lines. I would put my headphones in to make it like I was talking on the phone, and just walk all the way there and do the lines.

It's so funny what you said about the pacing, because it was so spot on last night. It felt masterful, because you were not at all emulating Cole really. But you somehow also fit into the rhythm of the show in a company that’s been performing as an ensemble for months.
It’s a testament to my castmates who have been so kind and supportive. I told Conrad [Ricamora, playing Mary’s Husband] after the first night that I just really felt so safe. James [Scully, Mary’s Acting Teacher] too. I felt so taken care of by them, which made it feel like we could be silly with each other. We were really listening to each other, which is amazing because, as you say, I don’t have the advantage of having done hundreds of performances. It's a testament to the writing and everyone being willing to help me out. And Sam, our director, is always like, “When in doubt, just say the lines. It’s all in the lines. And use your consonants.” I really just tried to do that.

That showed. One of my favorite things about the performance, actually, was your diction. It was like you were in a 1940s play.
Oh my gosh, thank you. It’s literally my dream diction. I sometimes just talk like that in my normal life, which is annoying. The night before the show, I watched The Harvey Girls, which is one of my favorite Judy Garland movies. I sit in my dressing room, which we call the Diva Den because I have photos of various Broadway divas to help inspire me, for me to call back upon. What would Elaine Stritch do? What would Ethel Merman do? And I know Cole is the same way. We love those old gals.

Well it’s interesting you bring that up. Cole brings so much drag energy to this part, which is, of course, wonderful. But I’ve always found it odd how cis women tend to be kept out of the drag conversation. Odd because that kind of contradicts drag’s ethos of gender exploration, but also because cis women like Elaine Stritch and Ethel Merman are so much of what inspired and inspires drag culture. What did it feel like to you getting to do this role as a cis woman?
We’ve always just approached it as this being an amazing role that Cole wrote. For me, ultimately, it’s about this woman. As a cis woman specifically, it’s about a woman who is constantly being talked down to by men, who is literally trapped in this cage and just wants more for herself. Especially now in the past week, it feels so powerful to be this strong female character onstage punching the President in the balls. We’ve had tons of different celebrities in to see the show, all different gender identities, and so many of them tell us they want to play that part. It rings true for so many people.

The election was on my mind too, in how powerful it becomes to have this female character who basically refuses to tick even one box on the list of traditional feminine expectations.
One hundred percent. And she’s actively attempting to step outside of that box in any way she can.

I noticed there were several moments that, even as uniquely hilarious as Cole is, just hit different coming from a cis woman.
People have told me that they’ve seen this multiple times and they’re hearing new lines or seeing certain scenes in a different way. That’s so beautiful and amazing. It’s what art is for. I dream of the beautiful day when a 15 year-old will be doing the audition monologue at the Thespian Conference. Or when Oh, Mary! will be on stage at a high school and getting protested. I think that just means we’ve done it. We’ve done our job.

How much room did Cole give you to make this your own, versus needing to fit in the mold of what’s already there?
I feel so grateful that they really trust me. Sam and Cole have both been so kind and trusting with me. I can’t speak for Cole, but I think they were just excited to see someone else do it. I told Cole, like, “This is so exhausting.” And they were like, “THANK you. I’m so glad you’re saying that and I’m not crazy!” It’s so nice to be able to share that with each other. They’ve given me a lot of freedom and trust, but I wasn’t really trying to reinvent the role. I think Cole is such a genius and the way the show has been crafted is so incredible. I didn’t feel the need to storm onstage and make something different. I wanted to honor Cole and honor the opportunity they’ve given me to do this amazing play.

That also speaks to your respect for the rest of the company. Your performance clearly did not throw a wrench into what they were doing in any way. If I hadn’t known you were going on as an understudy, I really think it would have been easy to think you had been doing this with them for a long time, which feels pretty masterful.
That is the highest compliment. I have done improv for, like, what feels like four million years. But having done four million improv shows in every basement for every flavor of weird audience, it’s given me so much experience and training to be down with whatever happens out there. I just have to listen and respond and breathe.

How did Monday compare to last night?
It’s funny. Having the two shows makes it feel like I have to pick a better or worse one, a ranking. But I think the first night was just so shocking in some ways, like being shot out of a cannon, that this second night felt like I was able to really take my time. Tony [Macht], who plays Simon, told me (in a good way) that it felt like just another night. We’re doing the show and everyone was really together and listening, and I was just a regular member of the cast. It was a huge compliment that this feels normal, just part of the way we do it. But both nights were sort of raucous. I have felt a wave of love and sound from the beginning.

Could you feel how much the audience was with you last night?
I really could. I’ve been saying I’ve had to suppress the magnitude of my emotions to function this week, because I think if I really fully took it in on stage, I would just fall to the floor and weep, and someone would have to drag me away. I think I’m still in shock. It’s so crazy. All I’ve been saying is it’s insane that we do this and that it happened. Being an understudy is so insane. And I’m just so grateful it went well.

I had so many people there, which was incredible. But a lot of my friends told me they were sitting next to a random couple or a tourist or whatever, people who had no idea that I was even going on. And then at the end of the show, they turned to my friends and were like, “We’re so happy for her! She was so good!” That’s amazing to me. And I’m honored that people outside of my family enjoyed this.

Let’s talk about the gowns. I noticed the black one that you spend the bulk of the show in is slightly different from Cole’s. How did that come to be?
Our costume designer, Holly [Pierson] has been doing so much amazing work. I can’t tell you the amount of fittings and re-stitching and things that they have done to make this dress perfect. They see things that I don’t, and that is why they are the professionals. I believe the dress was made by a sewing circle of women in Michigan, which is obviously iconic. My Louise [Mary’s Chaperone] dress is also completely different from Bianca’s, and they made that too. It’s giving American Girl doll, which I love. I think they wanted to keep a lot of the same iconic elements as Cole’s dress, and it’s the same general design, just a little bit different. They wanted to make sure I still had the swooshiness and the ability to stomp around in it. I’m also wearing a corset, which Cole doesn’t wear as I found out recently. And the wig, of course. They really curled those bratty curls for me.

I know you’ve spent much of your career kind of straddling comedy-improv and theatre. Where do you see things going from here?
I left theatre for a while because I just felt so disheartened, like there wasn’t a place for me there. And I just feel so lucky that there is a place for me, especially with this show. I love doing comedy and I just love musical theatre. I am a musical theatre girlie at my core. But I’m ready to do anything. I hope there’s more stuff like Oh, Mary! I also write my own stuff. I want more original work out there. I had the best time doing these performances, to where I wonder how I ever top this? But you know what? We will.