Betty Gilpin may be new to acting on a Broadway stage but she is not new to the theatre. She spent the first decade of her career, pre-Glow on Netflix, doing Off- and Off-Off-Broadway plays. And her parents, Jack Gilpin and Ann McDonough were also stage actors and would take their daughter to work.
"Both my parents were/are actors, and did mostly theatre when I was growing up. I was raised in a stage manager's booth and would memorize their plays and give actors line notes and blocking notes as any helpful eight year old would." She then adds, deadpan. "If an 8 year old did that do me now...."
Gilpin is making her Broadway debut beginning January 21 as a manic Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary!, taking over for star/writer Cole Escola, at the Lyceum Theatre. See Gilpin discuss her intimidating new role in the video above.
The Lyceum is important to Gilpin for another reason. It's the same theatre that Jack Gilpin made his Broadway debut, in the 1978 play Players, which was set in an an Australian locker run. "He was an understudy and went on one time," says Gilpin, then adding with a chuckle. "When I'm near puking in the same spot he near puked in, I will try to channel him."
Gilpin is not the only one coming into Oh, Mary! January 21. Phillip James Brannon (Macbeth) is also succeeding Conrad Ricamora as Mary's Husband and Chris Renfro (Queer as Folk) succeeding James Scully as Mary's Teacher.
Original cast members Bianca Leigh, as Mary's Chaperone; and Tony Macht, as Mary's Husband's Assistant, continue. Gilpin's stint in the show will conclude March 16.
The already-multi-extended run was most recently scheduled to end January 19. Producers have now put tickets on sale through June 28, no doubt setting their sights on this season's Tony Awards. Casting for after Gilpin's engagement has not yet been revealed.
The show officially opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre July 11 after beginning previews June 26. Read the reviews here.
Written by and originally starring Escola, Oh, Mary! centers on famous First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In Escola's demented take (or as press notes put it, "through the lens of an idiot"), Mary Todd becomes a madcap, cabaret-obsessed alcoholic.
The piece premiered at Off-Broadway's Lucille Lortel Theatre in 2024 in a run that was extended three times. The production earned two 2024 Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Outstanding New American Play and Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway play, both for Escola. The show also won the 2024 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Play.
READ: Camp and the Art of Being Cole Escola
Rounding out the company are understudies Martin Landry, Hannah Solow, and Peter Smith.
Sam Pinkleton directs the Broadway run after staging the Off-Broadway premiere. His creative team includes scenic designer dots, costume designer Holly Pierson, lighting designer Cha See, composer and co-sound designer Daniel Kluger, co-sound designer Drew Levy, wig designer Leah J. Loukas, and music arranger David Dabbon. Casting is by Henry Russell Bergstein. Bryan Bauer and Ryan Patrick Kane are production stage manager and assistant stage manager, respectively.
Visit OhMaryPlay.com.