Because of their sense of flair, Cole Escola is paying tribute to a Broadway legend.
At the 2025 Tony Awards, which took place in New York City on Sunday, June 8, the star of Oh, Mary! wore a silvery-blue gown that was modeled by Bernadette Peters’ appearance at the 1999 event. She was awarded the prize for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance in Annie Get Your Gun.
“It’s my favorite blue, I call it Cinderella blue,” Escola described the color to PEOPLE when she was walking the red carpet. In addition, the celebrity said that their pendant necklace shows the well-known British actress Laura Keene. Keene was a part of the production of the play Our American Cousin, which was performed at Ford’s Theater in Washington on the evening of President Abraham Lincoln’s murder. Keene became famous for her role in the play.
The unique Wiederhoeft creation that Escola designed is a lace-up corset made of a light blue taffeta fabric. It has draping at the breast and hips, and it is embellished with hand-embroidered metallic blue glass beads. The skirt, which is embroidered with the same glass beads, has an ornate door design that cascades down the whole front in silver glass beads, faceted crystals, and tarnished metal sequins. According to a press release, this motif is “a nod to Bernadette’s medals and the significance of the passage of time.”
The vast train of the skirt is constructed out of taffeta in a light blue color.
In a further tribute to Peters, Escola, who is 38 years old, wore a wavy wig that was a shade of reddish-brown and was modeled like the star’s characteristic style.
Jackson Wiederhoeft supplied the following information with the press: “When we were first discussing this look with David and Cole, we were really inspired by Bernadette Peters’ look from the 1999 Tony Awards.” “We were all obsessed with the color and the medals on the front, a sense of fake naiveté.”
“We found ourselves inspired by additional themes of faded crypticism, false innocence, fightfulness, womanly age-hold historically feminine garments, queenly status, and ancient doors,” the designer stated. “We found ourselves inspired by these themes.”
For their performance in Oh, Mary!, the successful Broadway comedy of which Escola is also the author, Escola has been nominated for the award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. The event for the awards will be hosted by Cynthia Erivo.
Escola made her comeback to the part of Mary Todd on Tuesday, April 8, after having previously allowed Betty Gilpin and Tituss Burgess to take up the role of the title character. Both Conrad Ricamora (who played “Mary’s Husband”) and James Scully (who played “Mary’s Teacher”), who were both original cast members, returned to their hometowns on that day.
All of the original Broadway cast members were brought back together. Since its debut at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City in June 2024, the absurdist comedy has been performed by Tony Macht (Mary’s Husband’s Assistant) and Bianca Leigh (Mary’s Chaperone), both of whom have continued to play roles in the production.
A number of prizes, such as the Obie, Drama Desk, Theatre World, and Outer Critics Circle, were bestowed to Escola during the play’s Off-Broadway run, which took place in February of last year. The production then made its way to Broadway.