Playing the chaperone to Lolly Adefope's First Lady

Stand-up Lucy Frederick is joining the cast of Oh, Mary! in the West End.

The comic will join from September 28, when Lolly Adefope – as previously announced – takes over the lead role as Abraham Lincoln’s wife.

Frederick takes the role of Mary Todd Lincoln’s chaperone. 

Ghosts star Adefope will be making her West End debut in the comedy when she takes over from drag star Jinkx Monsoon at the Trafalgar Theatre. She is due to take the role until December 5, while the play is currently booking through January 2.

Adefope will be appearing on Graham Norton's chat show when it returns to BBC One on September 25 to talk about her role in the show. The episode will also feature John Bishop talking about hosting new BBC quiz Wisdom Of The Crowd

Oh, Mary! is an outlandish pantomime-style spoof of the lives of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, set in the days leading up to the President’s assassination at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC.

The show portrays Mary as a temperamental alcoholic, stuck in an unhappy marriage with the deeply closeted President Lincoln and desperate to return to her past glory days as a cabaret star.

The original 2024 New York run of the show was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for drama and nominated for five Tony Awards, winning two.

It transferred to London last December, with  Mason Alexander Park taking the lead role.  Catherine Tate has also done a three-month stint as the tormented First Lady.

Also joining Adefope for her entire run will be Syrus Lowe as Abraham – though officially billed only as ‘Mary’s husband’, LJR Ballantyne as the president’s assistant, and Vinnie Heaven as Mary’s teacher.

The Broadway run has featured guest stars, including 30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski and Tituss Burgess from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – as well as Monsoon.

Tickets are available here.

Published: 10 Sep 2026