Intro for September 11, 2026

Dear Gossips,

You know how things sometimes (not always) happen for a reason?

I had a ball yesterday editing the site, cosplaying Lainey and/or Sarah, guided by the capable (Emily) and patient (lol, Jacek) artists behind the scenes, and scanning the pop culture landscape as a whole, as much as that’s possible – which it isn’t.

But it’s okay! Because I truly believe that if I’d seen and fully processed yesterday’s headline that a pro-shot (or 'live capture') of Oh, Mary! was coming to HBO Max next year, I would have been lost in excitement and Instagram clips of Meg Stalter backstage and unable to clearly appreciate the scope of what’s happening and trying to make my other deadlines.

 As it happened, though, I was able to take this in uninterrupted, and then over and over:

What stood out to you most? Yeah, me too. It’s not just that Cole Escola lights up the screen, or the appearance by HBO Max doyenne Sarah Jessica Parker, who is of course an avowed Broadway fan. It’s that this spot was seen as so important, Cynthia Nixon was like “not only will I show up and play a water-toting assistant, I don’t need lines.”

But mostly it’s that Escola lights up the screen as Mary. I’m so excited we get to see them in this defining role. Even though the list of Broadway darlings who have played Mary Todd Lincoln is an all-star TONY performance waiting to happen – Betty Gilpin, Tituss Burgess, Jane Krakowski, John Cameron Mitchell, Maya Rudolph, current outgoing Mary Meg Stalter, and upcoming replacement Bowen Freaking Yang, who debuts September 15th!! – this was always Cole’s defining role, and like any other theatre performance brought to the screen, you want audiences to see it the way it was intended – and also to get to know Escola, who somehow can still fly juuuust under the radar if you haven’t been following them since Difficult People or Search Party or earlier. And yes, you should go back and watch them.

My musings on the ‘live capture’ phrasing have me assuming this is a more static camera or three that shot the performance (as opposed to something like the Hamilton pro shot, where there were cameras onstage among the performers), which should replicate the in-theatre experience that much more.  I’m still curious about why they’ve chosen the West End production, as opposed to Broadway, but I’m sure it will be revealed in time.

Meg Stalter’s final performance is tomorrow night, giving her time to get Emmy ready for Monday Night. I can’t wait to see what she and Paul W. Downs will wear.

More Emmy prep and Sarah’s TIFF reviews coming at you!

Attached - Cole at a charity event last month in London.

Yours in gossip,

Duana