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This summer alone, the comedian has spent eight shows a week playing a boozy, bratty Mary Todd Lincoln in Cole Escola’s “Oh, Mary!,” taking over Broadway’s starry title role after Maya Rudolph and following previous Marys including Escola and Jinkx Monsoon. Her 10-week run, which ends in September, comes just months after “Hacks” wrapped its five-season run — and earned a record-breaking 24 Emmy nominations for its final season, including Stalter’s first individual nod for supporting actress in a comedy for playing Kayla.
While Escola’s catastrophically theatrical first lady has now been played by a growing roster of performers (Bowen Yang is set to replace Stalter next month), the comedian has put her own distinctly juvenile stamp on Mary. “I definitely feel like my Mary’s very childish,” she says. “There’s a lot of sticking my tongue out, I feel like I’m doing a lot of tongue choreography.”
Somewhere amid eight-show weeks and an upcoming trip to the Emmys, Stalter has also apparently become a home cook. That newfound hobby made her an apt partner for the food brand Knorr, which tapped the comedian this summer for its “Ultimate Chicken Roast,” a new campaign built around its Chicken Bouillon and Premium Flavor Base. The partnership included a “Chicken Roast” event in New York earlier this month, where guests were served Knorr-seasoned dishes by partner chef Sohla El-Waylly while Stalter took the mic.
Following the roast, Variety caught up with Stalter to talk her newfound love for cooking, “Oh, Mary” and what we can expect from her Emmys red carpet look:
May and I were just talking about how it’s a lot of lines — that before you even go into rehearsal, memorizing as much as possible is really helpful. Which is really practical, but really important. It helped me a lot to memorize it before I got to New York.
I really loved auditioning because it felt like a movie moment when I got it. And also, I wanted them to know what they were getting. People know my comedy, but I’ve never really sung on…well, maybe we shouldn’t say that. But you had to sing in the audition, and I think they wanted to make sure they knew what my take was.
It made me feel really confident because it was like, okay, they know what they’re getting, and I have proven that I understand the play and the character. So it was really fun, and I worked with a vocal coach.
I saw Jinkx do it, and I love Cole, and I’ve always wanted to see Cole do it. When I was in New York, I finally got to see Jinkx, and I just have never felt more seen in a character. Which is so funny, because I’m not the president’s wife and an alcoholic, but the way that she loves to perform. I just fell in love with it.
I asked my team if I could audition, and they talked to them about it. So I really, really wanted to audition and do the play after “Hacks.” I feel so lucky to get to do it.
I definitely feel like my Mary is very childish. I know she’s childish in general, but there’s a lot of sticking my tongue out and being really…I feel very young when I’m playing Mary. Of course, everyone plays her as bratty because she just is bratty. But I think I’m doing a lot of tongue choreography.
I think you’ll have to imagine me. Unless you can get ahold of some sort of theater tape.
I’ve told him that I’m so excited that he’s going to do it, but I haven’t given any advice because I think he’s going to be so perfect.
I want to see Cole do it again. And I’d also like to see just a regular person off the street do it. It should literally be someone who’s not acting at all. Just some random person who works at a company, like at an office, and then they’re chosen out of the office. They have to do it within two weeks.
We’re so lucky that we don’t get a ton of heckling. But I can tell when people have seen it before because they start laughing a little bit before the punchline. Once in a while, there’s a part where they might say what the punchline is. I’ve had that happen maybe once.
But we’re lucky that we don’t get too much. It’s not heckling like, “I hate this.” It’s more like they’re laughing because they know it.
I was actually talking to people in the cast about this. I feel like when you’re doing a show every night, you have to find food that tastes good but also gives you energy and isn’t going to make you feel sick. Chicken is actually one of the foods that all of us have said doesn’t make us feel sick and gives you energy.
I definitely have to think through the times when I’m eating more than if I were just at home. You want to eat a good meal before the show, but you don’t want to eat too much because then you’ll feel so low-energy.
I actually feel like I’ve learned how to cook in the last two years, and I love cooking so much. I used to not really cook, but now I cook a lot. I just think it’s really relaxing and really fun, and also a way to show someone that you love them back when you get to cook for them.
At the Knorr Chicken Roast, I did get stocked up on the Knorr Chicken Bouillon so I have a lot of it. But it’s going fast because I use it so much. It does help make cooking easier because I’m not an expert chef, but I am getting good, and I do know how to do it now, which is really fun. I’m always looking for ways to make it easier and get flavor fast.
I haven’t cooked for the cast yet, but I need to. I really do.
Yeah, definitely going to do that. I’m definitely going to have the cast over, and everyone should bring a side dish. Should I make the chicken?