On the Podcast: Bowen Yang Wants Cher to Come See ‘Oh, Mary!’

Reported by Vogue.

Broadway's most chaotic First Lady just got a new face. Bowen Yang — SNL writer, cast member, and certified podcast personality — has stepped into the lead role of Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary!, Cole Escola's anarchic comedy hit, marking his Broadway debut at the Lyceum Theatre. The show is now ten Marys deep, and according to Vogue, the cultural conversation around it shows absolutely no sign of slowing down.

What Yang didn't fully anticipate: the sheer physical brutality of eight shows a week. "I would just nod my head politely any time someone would say Broadway performers are athletes," he admitted. "Now I understand that it is absolutely true." His survival strategy is, fittingly, a little unhinged — Fuji apple-flavored Celsius and traditional Chinese medicine. Honestly, a more interesting wellness stack than whatever your favorite influencer is currently selling.

The Trickster in a Crinoline

When pressed on what makes him the right person for this particular role, Yang leaned into something more philosophical than résumé. He described Mary as a duality: the misunderstood outcast and the murderous deviant — "Pennywise and Bozo," in his words. He's quick to clarify he's not the murderous part, but owns the trickster energy completely, the feeling of being alienated by society's arbitrary rules. It's a surprisingly earnest answer for a play that is, by all accounts, completely unhinged.

The celebrity drop-ins have already been surreal. Malala Yousafzai has made an appearance, which is a sentence that belongs in a fever dream. But Yang's true white whale? Cher. "I think Cher would really get a kick out of this," he said. "Like, wow, that's a horny legend." He is not wrong, and we respect the specificity of that assessment. As for who inherits the hoop skirt next, Yang has nominations ready: Keke Palmer and Lisa Rinna, which is the kind of casting fantasy that makes you believe in theater again.

When a comedy about a deranged Mary Todd Lincoln becomes the hottest ticket on Broadway and the casting wish list reads like a chaotic group chat, you know fashion, culture, and camp have fully collapsed into one glorious mess — and that's exactly where it belongs.

Read the original at Vogue.