When Leah J. Loukas, the storied wig designer behind countless Broadway productions, answers my Zoom call from her studio, it looks like she's sitting in an aisle at a Sally's Beauty Supply. There are bobby pins, pop clips, tiny plastic drawers of related bits and bobs, and what I think is some piebald animal's coat. But no, that's just separate wefts of synthetic hair. Eventually, I spot the reason for why we're talking, Cole Escola's now-infamous wig from his record-breaking play, Oh, Mary! The comedy, which premiered off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theater in February, is Escola's take on the hidden life of Mary Todd Lincoln. Sequestered by her husband, the substance-driven, cabaret-aspiring First Lady devotes her days in the White House to drinking heavily, dreaming of a career on the stage, and psychologically tormenting her escort and solitary friend, Louise. In June, Oh Mary! made it to Broadway and has since extended its run at the Lyceum Theatre until November. In the middle of a Brat summer, there's just something about Mary. And in the words of Charli XCX: Mary IS brat, etc., etc. Some will speculate it's her wit. Others might say it's her unabashed indulgence in immorality. If we're going off Charli XCX's definition, Escola's Mary is a woman who “feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of, like, parties through it. Is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile." If you've seen the show, this descriptor is pretty accurate. During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, however, the playwright and performer explained what really makes Mary brat: her "bratty curl." When Loukas and I talk, Mary's signature spirals are markedly missing. In fact, she's actually looking rather sullen. But Loukas is starting to prepare Mary for another performance and is eager to explain how it's done. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. JEZEBEL: First things first: What's the Mary wig made of? Because it's looking a lot like human hair up close... Leah Loukas: Well, there's been many phases of Mary. When we were off Broadway, we were experimenting, troubleshooting, just trying to come up with some things. The wigs that we were using were human hair, but we realized that the human hair wasn't doing what we wanted it to do, and it also just didn't maintain the same way. So, we were like, "OK, I think we need to do synthetic hair." I had never really worked with synthetic hair so I asked, "What is this Halloween?" I get nervous because it ends up looking so flat and there are a lot of other concerns, but I ended up doing a fully hand-tied wig using five different colors. So, Mary's hair is fake but more importantly, she has highlights. Got it. I learned to put in multiple colors so that whatever light it's under, it always has some kind of dimension and the light doesn't reflect off of it. You probably would never notice, but it has this reddish color in it [points to a weft of cherry cola red hair] and it's mixed with this highlight color [points to a weft of lighter brown hair]. I don't know how many wig designers you talk to, but this [points to the bags of synthetic hair in the background] is crazy... https://t.co/LH3ffcpltk pic.twitter.com/osljg6PMCk— OH, MARY! on Broadway (@ohmaryplay) July 3, 2024 You're popping my wig maker cherry, actually. Oh my God. I feel so honored. Anyone who's seen the show knows it's physically demanding for Cole. In every scene, they're flinging their body this way and that way.…
