“I’m currently in a transitional place in my life,” the comedian explained after news of his casting broke.

Bowen Yang to make Broadway debut in *Oh, Mary! *for first major role post-SNL

“I’m currently in a transitional place in my life,” the comedian explained after news of his casting broke.

By Shelby Stivale

August 4, 2026 12:30 p.m. ET

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Bowen Yang in 2025. Credit:

Todd Williamson/NBC via Getty

- Bowen Yang’s first major role following his *Saturday Night Live *departure has been revealed.

- The comedian is gearing up to make his Broadway debut in *Oh, Mary!*

- Yang revealed that he was previously asked to appear in the musical last year.

Bowen Yang is making moves after his surprise *Saturday Night Live** *departure.

The 35-year-old comedian announced on Aug. 4 that he would be making his Broadway debut in *Oh, Mary!* starting this fall. The show, created by Cole Escola, is a comedic tale of Mary Todd Lincoln’s life in the days leading up to her husband Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Bowen Yang in ‘Oh, Mary!’.

OH, MARY!/Instagram

Yang teased that his version of Mary Todd Lincoln will be different than those before him. (Escola originated the role, which has also been played by Betty Gilpin, Jane Krakowski and Maya Rudolph, among others.)

“I’m not afraid to be masculine,” the *SNL *alum told *Vulture** *on Tuesday. “Mary having a complete delusion about her skills versus how other people perceive her feels very male to me in a way I relate with.”

Yang’s *Oh, Mary!* casting is his first major project after leaving *SNL *in Dec. after nearly seven seasons. The fan-favorite NBC star confirmed his departure in an emotional Instagram post on Dec. 20 following several reports that the holiday show, hosted by Ariana Grande with Cher as a musical guest, would be his last.

“I felt like I should leave *SNL*, but then after I left it, I was like, ‘But I miss it already,’” Yang told *Vulture *on Tuesday, comparing his experience to that of the fictionalized version of Mary.

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“There’s this weird dialectic thing Mary has in her relationship with the cabaret. She’s like, ‘I want nothing more than to go back to it.’ And then Abe calls out the fact that she did not enjoy it when she was in it,” he said. “That is not reflective of my *SNL* experience, but there was a parallel: I’m currently in a transitional place in my life where I am trapped by my boredom.”

Yang’s *Oh, Mary! *casting was a long time coming. Not only were fans hoping for it, but the actor had already been asked once before — and turned the opportunity down. Yang explained that last summer, when he was first approached about playing Mary, he was “too yoked to that timeframe to give myself the proper runway.”

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The *Las Culturistas *podcast host wanted to give “the utmost seriousness and gravitas and respect” to his Broadway debut — which is what he’s doing now.

“It’s a show that is at first about regrets, in the way that I regretted letting this offer go,” Yang says. “Mary feels trapped by her own decisions and then she understands that it is, in fact, other people’s decisions that have sort of kept her in this place.”

Yang is set to make his *Oh, Mary!** *debut on Sept. 15, playing the role for a limited 12-week run.

- Theater & The Arts

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Theater”