Jean Smart Cheered from the Audience as Her “Hacks” Co-Star Meg Stalter Made Her Broadway Debut in “Oh, Mary!”
Stalter stepped into the role of a wildly unhinged Mary Todd Lincoln on July 6 at the Lyceum Theatre, taking over the hit Cole Escola comedy for a 10-week run. She spent her opening night clutching a bouquet and fighting back tears as the applause rolled in.
Her “Hacks” co-star Jean Smart was in the audience, clapping and cheering her on. Stalter takes over the role from Maya Rudolph, who gave her final performance the night before.
Meg Stalter has spent years stealing scenes as Kayla, the gloriously chaotic assistant on “Hacks.” On July 6, she walked onto a Broadway stage for the first time in her career.
She’s the newest star of “Oh, Mary!”, the camp comedy that Cole Escola created, wrote, and originated about a fictional, fully unhinged Mary Todd Lincoln. Stalter took over the role for a 10-week limited engagement, stepping in the night after Maya Rudolph played her final performance on July 5.
On joining the show, Stalter said: “When I first met Cole Escola, they said, ‘I thought I was too old to feel this excited and giddy about a new friend,’ and that’s exactly how I felt when I met Mary Todd Lincoln for the first time.”
By the time she took her final bows on opening night, she was visibly moved, holding her flowers as the room came to its feet. Watching from the audience was her “Hacks” co-star Jean Smart, cheering her on.
Leaning into its own absurdity, the official “Oh, Mary!” account posted her bows with the caption “Welcome to the stalter administration,” joking about a “record-breaking 46-minute standing ovation.” The ovation was real. The 46 minutes is the show’s punchline.
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