Have you ever wondered what happens when a new cast joins a West End show? Welcome to Stage Door Secrets, the series where we take you behind the scenes to reveal just a little bit of the magic that makes theatre come to life. This week, we’re stepping into the rehearsal room with the team behind Oh, Mary!, the riotously funny reimagining of Mary Todd Lincoln’s final weeks in the White House.
We’re heading into the rehearsal room for Oh, Mary! as an entirely new company prepares to take on the show. It’s the first time in the West End production’s history that a full cast has come in together, rather than one or two performers slotting into the existing run.
UK Associate Director Georgie Ranckom and UK Assistant Director Hannah Sands take us through how they teach the brand-new company a show this fast, this eccentric, and this beloved revealing a few secrets along the way. We also spoke to the new cast – Lolly Adefope (Mary), Lucy Frederick (Mary’s Chaperone), J.R. Ballantyne (Mary’s Husband’s Assistant), Vinnie Heaven (Mary’s Teacher) and Syrus Lowe (Mary’s Husband) – to get their perspective on the rehearsal process.
Oh, Mary!, written by and originally starring Cole Escola, has become known for its regularly rotating cast: star actors make a guest appearance as Mary, putting their own spin on Mary for a limited run. Jinkx Monsoon, Maya Rudolph, Bowen Yang and Catherine Tate have all joined the production on Broadway and in the West End, and now Lolly Adefope joins the ranks.
See live availability for Oh, Mary! here
Secret #1: Associate directors watch the show every single week
Once a show opens in the West End, it doesn’t just get left alone. Usually it’s the job of the resident director to keep watch over it and make sure it stays on track. For Oh, Mary!, that’s the job of UK Associate Director Georgie Ranckom and UK Assistant Director Hannah Sands.
“I see the show every week,” Georgie explained. “You know, I do notes and put the replacement cast members in.” She confirmed that seeing the show regularly, taking notes, and directing the new cast that’s coming in is a big part of their job, and it’s an ongoing responsibility.
Audiences might be surprised to learn that a show doesn’t just run on autopilot once it’s open. Long-running shows especially benefit from the presence of someone who knows the show so well. Georgie has been with Oh, Mary! since it first came to the UK, meaning she worked with director Sam Pinkleton, while Hannah is newer to the team.
Hannah joked that the associate and assistant directors see the show so much that “eventually a director might be able to recite the whole script back to you, which Georgie pretty much can do.”
Secret #2: The cast only rehearses for three weeks
For a show this fast and precisely timed, the rehearsal window is surprisingly short. When we joined them in the rehearsal room, they were at the end of two weeks of rehearsal, with their third week being spent in tech at the Trafalgar Theatre. This might sound intimidating, but the cast was very positive about the condensed experience.
Lolly Adefope, who makes her West End debut as Mary from 28 September, commented that two weeks in the rehearsal room followed by one week in the theatre felt like “a nice solid chunk of time to feel like it’s ready for the masses. It’s been intense. It’s been fun. It’s been energizing.” She added that she was excited for the following week, when they would “get it up on its feet and get into the theatre.”
Echoing the sentiment, Syrus Lowe, who plays Mary’s Husband commented that “we’ve only had two weeks in the rehearsal room, but we’ve achieved- we’ve done so much.”
Actor Vinnie Heaven, who stars as Mary’s Teacher, explained that “it actually fast tracks the process of allowing everyone to kind of bloom… you can have a six-week rehearsal period and it can take someone four and a half weeks before you see what they’ve got, whereas this is almost like an immediate invitation of what have you got?”
Secret #3: The cast work from an existing plan, but there’s plenty of wiggle room
Joining an established production doesn’t mean copying a performance line for line, especially not for a show like Oh, Mary! Georgie described how she strikes the balance with a new company: “We kind of work within the parameters of what the existing staging is. But there’s so much room to find and play.”
That freedom extends to character work too. Syrus described Oh, Mary!’s writing as a springboard for ideas rather than a script to be treated as fixed on stage: “The show has a great foundation and framework, and we’ve been encouraged since the beginning to make the parts our own… I feel very able to create my own version of Abraham, which is brilliant.”
J.R. Ballantyne (Mary’s Husband’s Assistant) added his own thoughts, noting that “the script is so well written. There is no part of the script that could be done away with… So, in that sense, there is a lot to play with. There’s a lot to play with, and I have a lot of fun with it.”
Lolly summed it up perfectly, calling the production “a well-oiled machine… and at the same time, every Mary kind of puts her own spin on it.”
Secret #4: A mixed cast (some new, some returning) is harder to direct than an all-new cast
Sometimes a show welcomes a handful of new cast members, while at other times a whole new cast is waiting in the wings. You might assume that bringing in one or two new faces is the easier of the two, but according to Georgie, it’s often the opposite.
“There are some things where you have four people who know it and one person doesn’t, where you kind of have to fit into other people’s existing rhythms,” she explains. By contrast, an entirely new cast gets to build its dynamic from the ground up together, something Georgie says pays off: “This group are really bonding and forming it themselves.”
This is the first time the production has welcomed an entirely new cast all at once. Previously, only the actor starring as Mary would be new, while the other cast members were established.
Lolly shared her feelings on being a new cast together, noting that she’d “find it more overwhelming to join by myself and feel like everyone already knew everything about it, and I was just kind of like asking loads of questions. So, it’s nice to feel like we’re all starting this journey together, and we’ve all got each other’s backs.”
Secret #5: The precedent for creative freedom was set by the show’s own writer, Cole Escola
Georgie had one person to thank for the production’s creative freedom: creator Cole Escola. She shared that it’s down to them that the cast has the freedom to put their own stamp on their characters.
She explained that the show was originally only planned for an eight-week run, but multiple years into that journey, “Cole and Sam and the American team are so excited about new people taking on these roles and making the show their own.”
Cole Escola wrote Oh, Mary! and originated the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, when the show made its Off-Broadway debut at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. They continued in the role when it transferred to Broadway and even returned to the role for the West End production earlier this year.
Following in their footsteps, many stars have joined the production, putting their own unique spin on the characters that Escola created. Oh, Mary! has since become a show known for its reinvention, with some fans even returning multiple times to see the show with each new headlining star.
Secret #6: Stepping into an existing role removes a certain kind of pressure
For most actors, joining a proven hit versus originating new work feels like a very different beast. Most of the cast feels it can be a relief rather than a compromise. Lucy Frederick takes on the role of Mary’s Chaperone and described the clarity that comes with a role that’s already been mapped out: “I found that quite freeing in a weird way… The only thing I had to worry about is bringing the character to life.”
Meanwhile, Vinnie drew a direct contrast to developing brand-new writing, where actors have to build everything from scratch: “You’re using a different set of skills. So, if you’re working on a piece of new writing, you’re using dramaturgical skill… you’re trying to work out how a story fits together.”
He reflected on how coming into an already built show is a different kind of skill because “everybody else has worked hard to build it, and then we’re like, we can play in the playground.”
Lolly agreed, pointing to the built-in support system that comes with joining an established show: “Stepping into a pre-existing show is kind of the perfect balance… people can tell you where to go. They can answer every question that you have.”
Secret #7: The audience is the sixth character
No matter how many times a scene has been rehearsed in an empty room, the new cast can all agree that something changes once the audience is present.
Syrus put it plainly: “I think they are… almost like the sixth character.” He noted that certain moments simply don’t fully land until there’s someone to play off.
Lolly agreed with that sentiment, sharing that she felt the live audience is central to the show’s experience: “It’s very fun to have that dialog with the audience and feed off of their energy, and also hope that they’re feeding off of your energy.”
Georgie was keen to reiterate just how integral the audience is to the show, reflecting that “our audiences are just so ready to laugh and to go on the story with us… [They] come ready for anything, and that really keeps the show alive.”
Lolly Adefope and the new cast of Oh, Mary! begin performances from 28 September 2026. Lolly is set to star in the title role until 5 December 2026.
Watch the full episode of Stage Door Secrets
Plan your visit to Oh, Mary!
- Venue: Trafalgar Theatre
- Booking dates: until 2 January 2027
- Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes (no interval)
- Age guidelines: 14+
Trafalgar Theatre, London
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