Exclusive: Timothée Chalamet to Make Broadway Debut in Oh, Mary!

Following his Oscar-losing performance in Marty Supreme, Timothée Chalamet will make his Broadway debut this summer in the title role of Oh, Mary!

“I feel like somehow people have gotten the mistaken impression that I don’t have any interest in live theater,” Chalamet told TheaterMania, giggling into his bacon, egg, and cheese during a breakfast interview at Tompkins Square Bagels. “I want to put that notion to rest by coming to Broadway in a role that feels tailor-made for me, and will absolutely not piss anyone off.”

Oh, Mary! is a gleefully inaccurate historical comedy about Mary Todd Lincoln plotting a return to the stage as her husband attempts to hold the Union together during the Civil War. Playwright Cole Escola originated the role of Mary off-Broadway before transferring with it to Broadway, where it has become one of the most successful plays of the post-pandemic era. Since Escola departed the production, Mary has been played by Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess, Jinkx Monsoon, and John Cameron Mitchell, among others.

TheaterMania attempted to reach Escola for comment about the casting of Chalamet, who would be the first straight man to play Mary (TheaterMania loves firsts!), but we were only able to reach lead producer Kevin McCollum, who informed us that Escola was on a much-needed off-the-grid vacation in Tuvalu.

Chalamet kicked a donor-supported hornet’s nest in February when he suggested that audiences are not interested in opera and ballet. “I don’t wanna be working in ballet or opera or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’ even though it’s like no one cares about this anymore,” the Dune star told Matthew McConaughey during a Variety and CNN Town Hall discussion, adding, “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there.”

“It’s absolutely outrageous that Chalamet would suggest that our beloved art form is on life support,” said Metropolitan Opera Managing Director Peter Gelb, who was kind enough to take TheaterMania’s call before ducking into a meeting with Novo Nordisk about potentially renaming the opera’s Lincoln Center home “The Ozempic Center for Opera and Fitness.”

“I’m not walking back my comments about opera and ballet,” Chalamet clarified, “but Broadway, a place where audiences will spend $900 a ticket just to breathe the same air as A-list celebrities, is my kind of gig.”

Chalamet’s first performance will be on June 22, after Maya Rudolph departs the role, and just in time for New York’s annual Pride celebrations.

The casting of Oh, Mary was recently taken over by the same people who made Taylor Frankie Paul this season’s Bachelorette. TheaterMania would like to wish them, and all our readers, a very happy April Fool’s Day.