Intro Rewind: Cole Escola (Extended)

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode: Intro Rewind: Cole Escola (Extended)

Date: August 28, 2025

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Overview

This episode of The Late Show Pod Show features an extended intro with Stephen Colbert, Becca, and Broadway star & comedian Cole Escola. The discussion weaves through quintessential New York experiences, backstage tales, and culminates in an insightful and hilarious interview with Cole about their hit Broadway show, "O Mary." The episode is rich with New York lore, theater anecdotes, and Escola’s witty, offbeat persona.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

New York City Construction and Broadway Life

[04:31-08:14]

• Stephen and Becca discuss the omnipresence of construction noise in New York, particularly around Broadway.

  • Colbert recounts the constant battle with noise during his TV show years, including dynamite blasts during the Colbert Report era.
  • "I've never done a television show in New York that is not across the street from a construction site." – Stephen Colbert [06:30]

• They joke about the mysterious "Daily Bang" heard in their office, theorizing which staffer might be responsible.

Broadway "Tip to Tip" Walk

[09:35-12:20]

• Becca shares her plan to walk "tip to tip" up Broadway, from Battery Park to possibly Sleepy Hollow, discussing the quirks and urban bathroom needs.
  • Stephen gives recommendations: Lincoln Center, Zabar's, Citarella, and the Apple Store.
  • Entertaining side discussion about the now-defunct "Sit or Squat" app for public bathrooms.

Strangers with Candy & Comedy Lineage

[12:22-15:56]

• Stephen and Becca reminisce about Strangers with Candy, including its cult fandom, the show's twisted humor, and how it serves as a barometer for identifying alt-comedians.
  • Colbert: "If they're like, one eyebrow was shaved off, we would think, 'That's Strangers.'" [14:42]
  • Becca notes that the show is now available on Paramount+, and Stephen expresses surprise and amusement.

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Interview: Cole Escola

[15:56-24:29]

On "O Mary" and Playing Mary Todd Lincoln

[17:06-20:55]

• Stephen: Outlines the surprising success of Escola's play "O Mary," which transferred from off-Broadway to a blockbuster Broadway run, extended five times.
• Cole:
  • Describes "O Mary" as: "A play about Mary Todd Lincoln played by me... She's an alcoholic wannabe cabaret star inspired by someone very close to me."
  • Reflects on sitting on the idea since 2009, and the initial trepidation of not wanting to “ruin” a cherished concept by writing it down.
    • "I was so scared that once I got it on paper, I would be faced with my own mediocrity." – Cole Escola [19:14]
  • On sharing the idea with others: "I was waiting for someone to be like, you have to write this right now... but because no one did that, [I thought] guess it's a bad idea and I'll never write it. But luckily, I loved it enough that I wouldn't leave it alone." [19:37]

Seeing Others Portray "Mary"

• Cole describes the joy of seeing performers like Betty Gilpin and Titus Burgess take on the role:
  • "To have two of my favorite performers in the world just enthusiastically take over this role and love it like it was their own… It was amazing." [20:30]
• Stephen (mockingly): "God, people hate you."
  • Cole: "These people hate me." (playful banter) [20:55]

On Fame, Taking Breaks, and Future Roles

• Cole jokes about needing to take a break from the spotlight, and expresses a strong desire to play "a straight guy."
• Leads into a comedic “straight guy” performance challenge:
  • Cole: "The key is you have to keep in your mind, enunciating is gay... straight guy's number one fear is being understood." [22:00-22:44]
  • Demonstrates the character with lines like: "Do you know eggs are actually bad for you?" and "What kind of truck is that?"

Notable Quotes from the Segment

• Stephen: "I don't know if I can convincingly play straight at this point, Stephen."
  • Cole: "I don't know that you can either." [23:05]
• On acting differences:
  • Cole (as mean gay): "Did you know eggs are actually bad for you?"
  • Stephen: "Ow. I feel like I just lost an argument I wasn't having." [23:52-23:55]
• Cole: "I love acting. It's one of my favorite things in the world." [24:15]

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Notable Quotes (With Timestamps)

• Stephen Colbert [06:30]:
  "I've never done a television show in New York that is not across the street from a construction site."
• Cole Escola [19:14]:
  "I was so scared that once I got it on paper, I would be faced with my own mediocrity."
• Stephen Colbert [14:42]:
  "If they're like, one eyebrow was shaved off, we would think, 'That's Strangers.'"
• Cole Escola [22:00]:
  "The key is you have to keep in your mind, enunciating is gay. Straight guy's number one fear is being understood."
• Stephen Colbert [23:52]:
  “Ow. I feel like I just lost an argument I wasn't having.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |--------------|-----------------------------------------------| | 04:31-08:14 | New York construction anecdotes | | 09:35-12:20 | Becca’s “tip to tip” Broadway walk | | 12:22-15:56 | Strangers with Candy retrospective | | 15:56-20:55 | Cole Escola’s journey with “O Mary” | | 21:04-23:55 | Cole’s comedic “straight guy” performance | | 24:15-24:29 | Cole on their love of acting; sign-off |

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode balances intellectual curiosity, classic New York grittiness, and comedic absurdity. Stephen and Becca’s banter, Colbert’s quick-witted tangents, and Cole Escola’s dry, slightly surreal humor create an irreverent and intimate listening experience.

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Memorable Moments

• The detailed riff on construction noise, and the "Daily Bang" mystery [08:00]
• Stephen and Becca’s “Strangers with Candy” fan radar [14:42]
• Escola’s self-deprecating take on procrastination and imposter syndrome in creating "O Mary" [19:14]
• The “straight guy off” between Cole and Stephen, with Escola’s comedic acting insights [22:00-23:55]

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Conclusion

This playful, meandering episode offers fans of late night, theater, and alternative comedy a rich slice of backstage life on Broadway and TV, capped by Cole Escola's singular, boundary-poking approach to humor and performance. It’s an ideal listen for those craving quick wit, deep dives into the creative process, and authentic New York energy.

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For anyone interested in catching "O Mary," find it at the Lyceum Theater on Broadway. For more about Cole Escola and The Late Show, check out their online platforms.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, everybody. Stephen Colbert here about to read the copy for our sponsor. This is from our friends at Wonderful Pistachios. And I was the wonderful pistachio spokesman for years. Yeah, I have a real close association with nut meat. Okay. You know what they say when they reach for a snack? Don't hold back. And that's exactly the approach with Wonderful Pistachios. The don't hold back snack. These little wonders are so tasty, it feels like getting away with something. But surprise. Each serving has 6 grams of protein and 0 grams of regret. That's right. No guilt. Just glory, glory in our nuts. Whether it's a satisfying crack of in shell pistachios, and that's capitalized in shell, or the smooth, instant gratification of no shells. No judgment. That's just it. Just eat. No judgment. I take issue with one thing. It's instant gratification. It's super tasty smooth.

[Becca]

It's a hard nut smooth.

[Stephen Colbert]

Exactly. I mean, even out of the shell, it's still a nut.

[Becca]

We can't disparage the nuts. You.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm not disparaging the nut. I'm describing the nut.

[Becca]

Don't disparage any flavors.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm not. I am celebrating the pistachio right now. I'm on board. I love pistachios. I love. I love crushed pistachio. Like a pistachio crusted trout. Oh, unbelievable. Instead of a trout amandine, a trout pistachio. Fantastic. Enough butter? Who cares?

[Becca]

Very good.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I love pistachio ice cream.

[Becca]

Have you had the sea salt and vinegar? Wonderful pistachio. It's delicious. I get them.

[Stephen Colbert]

I didn't even know I get them.

[Becca]

Before the softball games.

[Stephen Colbert]

But that's. You see, it's been a while since I've been the spokesman for wonderful pistachios. I didn't realize we'd achieved new pistachio technology.

[Becca]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. Wonderful pistachios has every snack style covered. Right now. There's an obsession with jalapeno lime. There is an obsession session. It's almost a disorder. It's spicy, it's zesty. It's basically a flavor roller coaster in a nut. Snacking on the go. Grab a bag of no shells. Feeling contemplative and want to work for it a little. So earning it, they're saying if you want to earn your nut, crack open those in shell beauties. Either way, it's snacking like a champ. So the next time hunger strikes, don't hold back. Unless it's a hunger strike. And Then it's important that you do. Because whatever you're doing that for, I'm sure it's a worthwhile cause. Snack like you mean it with wonderful pistachios. Visit wonderfulpistachios.com to learn more.

[Becca]

That was a wonderful.

[Stephen Colbert]

I wonder what more there is to learn. We just told them so much. We just told them so much about pistachios. But evidently there's a whole other world. There's an unexplored vista.

[Becca]

They got a bunch of flavors. They got dill pickle, jalapeno lime, as we learned, smoky barbecue. There's a lot of different flavors.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. And I would not disparage any of them.

[Becca]

No, no, no.

[Stephen Colbert]

Bring it on.

[Becca]

Nothing bad to say.

[Stephen Colbert]

Nut me, nut, nut me with nut meat.

[Becca]

We're nut.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, we got nothing but nut. Nutty, nutty, nutty, nutty. Talk about, talk about, talk about, talk about nutty.

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[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, Becca.

[Becca]

Hey, Stephen.

[Stephen Colbert]

What day is it?

[Becca]

It's Wednesday. It's Wednesday night.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, okay. Yeah.

[Becca]

On the podcast.

[Stephen Colbert]

Fantastic. It's hump day.

[Becca]

It's hump day.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, we always do that. When I come on on Wednesday nights. You'll look over and the band will hold up one hand and put another hand over that hand. Like one hand is diving over the other. Because that one hand, the first hand conveys Wednesday.

[Becca]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

And then we're getting over it with the other hand. We're getting over hump Day.

[Becca]

And it's so nice to be here with you in this little podcast booth that we have, away from the construction noise on the street. I don't know if that's affecting you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, it's Caddy corner to us. It's north and east of us. They've torn down something they tore down a long time ago.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

But now they're finally hammering out. They've got three, basically, front end loaders with backhoe attachments, but the backhoe is off, and they've got jackhammer attachments on, and they're drilling into the bedrock. Because we're on Broadway, and people may not know this, but there are a couple of places in New York where the bedrock comes right level, essentially, if you would have been here hundreds of years ago, before it was developed. When the Lenape or whoever was originally on the site, there was exposed bedrock in places. And downtown, where the skyscrapers are, that's bedrock. Midtown, where that's where the skyscrapers are, that's bedrock. And running down the island, there's this groin of bedrock that's exposed. Back in the old days, on top of that groin that ran diagonally up New York, they paved it over, and that became Broadway.

[Becca]

And that's where we are.

[Stephen Colbert]

We're on Broadway. So you dig down, like, six inches around here, you hit bedrock. And so if you want to build anything, it is loud. My brothers.

[Becca]

Well, that's the weirdest thing is they were demolishing a huge building for over a year. Didn't hear a thing.

[Stephen Colbert]

No.

[Becca]

Was doing it like.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like they took it apart with Allen wrenches or something.

[Becca]

Yeah. Floor by floor. And now that they're starting to build every day, bang, bang, bang, bang.

[Stephen Colbert]

I have never done a television show in New York that is not across the street from a construction site. We were doing the Colbert Report back in the old days on 53rd on 53rd Street. We're on 54. We're between 53rd and 54th.

[Becca]

Right.

[Stephen Colbert]

We were on 53rd Street. The across the street, they were building luxury apartments. But first they had to dig down. They tore something down. They dug really far down. And because it's in midtown, and because there's bedrock, they had to use dynamite. They were blasting. And we would hear this. You'd be sitting at your desk concentrating, trying to write a script, and you'd hear in the distance, you'd hear, meep, meep, meep. And that meant five seconds after that, there was gonna be an explosion.

[Becca]

Oh, God.

[Stephen Colbert]

So you would hear, meep, meep, meep. Like that. And then everybody would take their hands off their keyboards and just sit there for a second. Then the whole building, you'd hear the sound. The whole building would go, oh, my God. And the whole building would shake. And then we'd all go. And then you'd start doing it. And keep in mind, this wasn't that long after 9, 11.

[Becca]

Oh, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And so that rattling. That was truly a disturbing rattling sound to hear. So then. Okay, okay. So that they finish it, they build it, it's over. But that went on for like a year.

[Becca]

Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

And then we moved to the Ed Sullivan and Roselyn Ballroom was across the street. And they tore it down.

[Becca]

Oh, geez.

[Stephen Colbert]

They tore it down and they started jackhammering and dynamiting across the street. And now it's another big luxury condos or something. And so I thought, okay, we're done. I'm not moving again. This is it. And now they're jackhammering on Caddy Corner.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

There's a lot happens in New York. You think like, oh, yeah, New York's all built out. Nope. People change their minds about what's gonna be on what corner. All the time in the city.

[Becca]

Absolutely.

[Stephen Colbert]

And then they just randomly throw sheets of, like, steel.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

You know, like big steel plates, like random places on the streets. And when cars go over, it goes. It's fantastic.

[Becca]

I mean, my favorite sound that happens at work is the Daily Bang is what I call it. In rewrite.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's quarter til five. And we don't know why, because our rewrite is right under the stage. And there's a point at which. There's a point at which every day, our room again, which is right below the stage, is like being inside a drum.

[Becca]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

And it just goes doom. There's a big thump. And we look at our watches and it's always almost exactly quarter to five. And we've never asked what it is, have we? No, we've never asked years of this. And it's startling and you forget it's coming. And they're like, jesus, what was that sound? And we go, oh, it's quarter to five. To me it sounds like a bowling ball was dropped from about 30ft.

[Becca]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And then didn't bounce just one. It's heavy and it's still when it hits.

[Becca]

Our joke is that Niki is body slamming someone up there.

[Stephen Colbert]

Niki is one of our stage hands.

[Becca]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Who's the couple who is not. Would not immediately register as someone who could body slam someone.

[Becca]

Yes, exactly. But yeah, the mystery of the daily bang continues.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes.

[Becca]

Great about Broadway, though. The Sheetrock. I don't know if I told you this, and I probably haven't. We've been busy. I'm doing a tip to tip on Broadway.

[Stephen Colbert]

What's tip to tip?

[Becca]

Tip to tip. You go to the bottom tip of Manhattan, all the way to the top.

[Stephen Colbert]

So where does it start? Downtown?

[Becca]

It starts all the way in Battery Park. Like where the bull is.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, yeah.

[Becca]

So basically, bottom tip, and then it goes actually all the way through. Like Sleepy Hollow, if you really go all the way up.

[Stephen Colbert]

But I'm only going to say no way. Sleepy Hollow. What do you mean?

[Becca]

It's the longest throwaway in New York.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sleepy Hollows north of the Tappan Zee.

[Becca]

It's 33 miles long the whole.

[Stephen Colbert]

So you end up on the Henry Hudson, or is it a side? It literally keeps the name Broadway.

[Becca]

Yeah, it keeps the name Broad. It's like North Broadway at that point, but it still is technically the same contiguous street. Isn't that crazy?

[Stephen Colbert]

That is crazy.

[Becca]

So I don't know if all my friends are gonna be willing to keep going, but I'm trying to cross the road.

[Stephen Colbert]

What is that, like 20 miles?

[Becca]

It's like 33 miles total.

[Stephen Colbert]

Or you can do it in a day.

[Becca]

I'm gonna try, but I think realistically, it'll just be top tip of, you know, Harlem of Manhattan.

[Stephen Colbert]

North to south, south to north.

[Becca]

I'm gonna do south to north this time. I've done a tip to tip that was north to south along the river. Lovely, lovely. But it's really. It's really great. It's a really great way to spend a day. And it's on foot. You're not like, you know, you stop in the restaurants. You stop and get a snack.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure.

[Becca]

It's just a great way to see all of Manhattan.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you map out your bathrooms on the way?

[Becca]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's this great app that used to exist called Sit or Squat that rated public bathrooms.

[Stephen Colbert]

It used to exist.

[Becca]

I think it could shut down after Covid. But it was a great Covid app for a while because it would all the public bathrooms that you have access to. Which ones were grosser? The squats and which one were really nice? The sit.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did people make money off of this app or was it just a public service?

[Becca]

You know what? I think maybe that's why it doesn't exist anymore. I don't know if there's a lot.

[Stephen Colbert]

Of money in the people who not in New York, do not understand the Necessity of this app, I don't think.

[Becca]

Yeah, okay, well, but I'm going up Broadway. Stephen Colbert, Broadway host of the Late Show.

[Stephen Colbert]

You can stop in here.

[Becca]

Any wrecks? Oh, well, yeah, sure. I'll grab a seltzer. But any wrecks on Broadway of things to see, things to do while going up. The entirety of it. It's a big question.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, we'll stop in Lincoln Center. Go walk around the Plaza of Lincoln Center.

[Becca]

Yeah. Beautiful.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's a lot of fun. Obviously, we've got this thing that people may not have elsewhere in the United States. We have an Apple store. Amazing, amazing technology.

[Becca]

Yeah, great.

[Stephen Colbert]

What else is on Broadway? Stop in Zabars.

[Becca]

Yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Going to Citarella and get yourself a couple pounds of raw tuna.

[Becca]

Great. Yeah, exactly.

[Stephen Colbert]

Get some white fish salad at Zabar's on a hot summer day. That and a spoon, you'll be fine.

[Becca]

Yeah, and just walk it off. Just keep walking with it. Yeah, that'd be great.

[Stephen Colbert]

Movie theaters on Broadway. Pause and get your see something at the Lincoln. 13 Lincoln Plaza.

[Becca]

Okay, cool. All right, well, I'll let you know.

[Stephen Colbert]

Who's our guest on this one.

[Becca]

Oh, today we have a Broadway star, Cola Scola.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, that's fantastic.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's why Broadway. You forgot the entire purpose of your story. That's what we bring. We bring to these intros. It's just meandering and then forgetting why.

[Becca]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Kola Scola. Fantastic. I loved our straight guy off.

[Becca]

Yes. So good, so fun.

[Stephen Colbert]

Fantastic.

[Becca]

And I have a question for you, Steven. Cola Scola ran a panel at the IFC Center, I think, with you and Paul and Amy for Strangers. How did that go? And why wasn't I invited? That's so fun.

[Stephen Colbert]

I didn't know that you would want to be invited or not even invited.

[Becca]

But, like, you could tell us when you have, like, something fun going on after work.

[Stephen Colbert]

I didn't have much to do. I didn't have much to do with it. Okay. I heard about it. It. And I. And when I heard that Cole was gonna do it, I was. I was really happy.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

But I didn't even know they were big fans. I hadn't spoken to them before, and I guess people watched the Strangers movie.

[Becca]

Mm.

[Stephen Colbert]

And then we answered questions. We did twice. Once with Cole and one without. We did before the movie and after the movie.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And it was a joy. You know, I forget about that show. I mean, I just forget that I did it.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because it was so long ago. I stopped this year. We're probably gonna do another one. We wanna do another, like, even a bigger one.

[Becca]

Cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

And because we're celebrating 25 years of being canceled. Cause we were canceled 25 years ago this summer.

[Becca]

Okay, cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

And so we wanna celebrate that.

[Becca]

I do love that in postmortem, a meeting that we have after the show when we have sort of a alt comedian coming on or someone who's has sort of a stranger taste in humor, you and Paul kind of go like, do you think they watch Stranger the candy? You know what I mean?

[Stephen Colbert]

We'll have a little like. Yeah. Do you think?

[Becca]

Yeah, it's a judge of character call for you guys. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I'll be completely surprised. Sometimes the guest in the commercial will go like, I'm a huge Strangers fan. And I'll usually say, I didn't even know you were emotionally disturbed. Because when we used to, you know, Paul and I mean, I would do events and everything and we would see people walking and some people were fans of. Would be fans of, like, what all of us did on Strangers or something that I did on the Daily show or Amy and the work she'd done with her brother. And as they were walking toward us, if they're like, one eyebrow was shaved off, we would think, that's Strangers.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

You know, the more this person has sort of disassociated with American culture in a slightly hostile way toward themselves, I would think.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's a Strangers fan.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I love him. I just love him to death.

[Becca]

Yeah. Available on Paramount Plus.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is it?

[Becca]

It is. Wow. I've been watching. I've been watching it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Becca]

Great show.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Yeah. I watched one recently. I always get. I mean, I really like it, but I always. I resurprise myself on some of our choices.

[Becca]

I love the episode where instead of getting like a bag of flour.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh. When they teach kids this is what it's like to have a baby, and they give them a 10 pound bag of flour.

[Becca]

Yeah. But then Jerry got a real baby.

[Stephen Colbert]

You got a 10 pound baby and the baby's name is Dizzy.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because she puts the baby on her dresser and it falls off into a basket of laundry.

[Becca]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm gonna call you Dizzy. And she gives him half of a. She takes a beer can and tears it in half and gives Dizzy one of the halves to play with.

[Cola Scola]

Fantastic.

[Becca]

So good, so good, so good. All right. Well, this is Cola Scola, Strangers with Candy, fan and Tony Award nominee.

[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome back, my friends. My next guest tonight is a comedian, you know, from difficult people at home. With Amy Sedaris and Search Party. They wrote and star in O Mary on Broadway. Please welcome to the Late Show Cola Scola. Nice cowboy boots.

[Cola Scola]

Thank you. Thank you. How was the fishing trip, by the way?

[Stephen Colbert]

The fishing trip?

[Cola Scola]

Yeah. Didn't you just go on a fish?

[Stephen Colbert]

I did just go on a fishing trip.

[Cola Scola]

I'm sorry I couldn't make it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, you know, next time. Next time it was me and Danello. We went down to Mexico.

[Cola Scola]

Right, of course.

[Stephen Colbert]

And we're fly fishing the Yucatan. Like you do. Like you do. Do you fish?

[Cola Scola]

Yes, every day. Every day I'm out there. What do you think these are for? Is this offensive? No, my frippery.

[Stephen Colbert]

Frippery, Is that called frippery?

[Cola Scola]

No, no, no. It's a word. I'm reading Middlemarch right now.

[Stephen Colbert]

What is.

[Cola Scola]

Well, I'm not having sex.

[Stephen Colbert]

What is frippery?

[Cola Scola]

Frippery is like adornments, like extra little things. Gee gaws. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

[Stephen Colbert]

I like it very much.

[Cola Scola]

My frippery.

[Stephen Colbert]

They look like they'd be good self defense. You could whip somebody in the eye with that.

[Cola Scola]

Well, you might get lucky.

[Stephen Colbert]

Exactly. Let's see how the interview goes.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. Okay. So your play, O Mary. Here we go. There you go. Oh, Mary right there is at the Lyceum Theater. It started off Broadway at the Lucille Lortel. Supposed to be a 12 week run. Got extended five times.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Two times off Broadway, then moved to Broadway and extended three more times. Did the people's love of the show surprise you in any way?

[Cola Scola]

Yeah, it's still surprising to me. I don't know what to make of it. And if I knew how to process my feelings in real time, I wouldn't be in show business, would I? So, you know, ask me in two years how I feel about right now.

[Stephen Colbert]

All right. Yeah, two years. Let's put it.

[Cola Scola]

We're writing that down.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you.

[Cola Scola]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

First, explain to people basically who this Mary is. Tell me. Give them a general idea of who this O Mary is.

[Cola Scola]

So O Mary is a play about Mary Todd Lincoln played by. Played by me. Yep. She's an alcoholic wannabe cabaret star inspired by someone very close to me. And it's about her hopes and her dreams and. Yeah, but it's not really about her.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. When did this first come to you?

[Cola Scola]

In 2009, if you can believe it.

[Stephen Colbert]

16 years ago.

[Cola Scola]

16 years ago to the day. I'm kidding. I don't know, but I had the idea. No one's gonna check. That's right. It was today.

[Stephen Colbert]

And what inspired it, though?

[Cola Scola]

I had. I don't know. I just remember walking one day, and I was like, what if Abraham Lincoln's assassination was a good thing for Mary Todd Lincoln? Like, we just assume, Right? We assume. And when you assume, you make an exactly.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes.

[Cola Scola]

But. So I sent myself that in an email. Like, what if Abraham Lincoln's assassination wasn't such a bad thing for Mary Todd? And then I sort of sat on that idea for 12, 14 years. Well, because I loved the idea so much. Do you ever have, like, an idea that you're so excited about that you're.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like, oh, wait, I can't possibly work on that because I won't get it right.

[Cola Scola]

Exactly. Exactly. I was so scared that once I got it on paper, I would be faced with my own mediocrity. And then I got it on paper. But then once you get it on paper, you don't know if it's gonna make it to the cause. I've made a lot of things that are bad are really bad. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And did you tell. Like, when you told people this idea, they go, that's great. Or they go, oh, it's interesting.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah. The second thing. And, you know, I was waiting for someone to be like, you have to write this right now. We're going. We're going right now. But because no one did that, I would be like, so I have this idea, and they'd be like, that's great.

[Stephen Colbert]

Good.

[Cola Scola]

And then I'd be like, okay, guess it's a bad idea, and I'll never write it. But luckily, I loved it enough that I wouldn't leave it alone.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, the star is Mary.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

But you took how long of a break? 11 weeks, something like that?

[Cola Scola]

11. I took 11 weeks.

[Stephen Colbert]

Couple of. Brilliant. First of all, here you are as Mary in a moment of passion.

[Cola Scola]

In a moment of passion. There you go. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

She doesn't have the frippery.

[Cola Scola]

No.

[Stephen Colbert]

No frippery. She's a little frippery. It was taken over during that run. Betty Gilpin and Titus Burgess in Mary Child Lincoln, both incredibly talented. What was it like to see somebody else doing the part that you created this dream of yours?

[Cola Scola]

Heaven. Heaven.

[Stephen Colbert]

Really?

[Cola Scola]

Yeah. Like, as someone who grew up begging people to be part of my skits or my movies or whatever I wanted to do, like to have two of my favorite performers in the world just enthusiastically take over this role and love it like it was their own. Um, I mean, sorry. It was amazing. I know you hate. I know. You hate to see me succeed.

[Stephen Colbert]

God, people hate you.

[Cola Scola]

These people hate me.

[Stephen Colbert]

So. So, okay, so you're. You're back in. I'm back in eventually. You can't run it forever. What do you want to do after this?

[Cola Scola]

I am done.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because now you get all this attention.

[Cola Scola]

I've got so much attention right now. It's too much. I'm dying to play a straight guy.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Cola Scola]

I really want to play a straight guy.

[Stephen Colbert]

Any particular or you just wanna.

[Cola Scola]

No, it's just I have this straight guy that I like, and people never think to cast me as a straight guy anyway.

[Stephen Colbert]

You have this straight guy, meaning you have a character who's straight?

[Cola Scola]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I show.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'd be honored. I'd be honored.

[Cola Scola]

So, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you wanna.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

You wanna just do them and I'll interview this guy or something?

[Cola Scola]

No, because I can't. I only know how to say a couple things as a.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. Great guy.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah. So there's this. There's. Do you know eggs are actually bad for you?

[Stephen Colbert]

Take your time. Take your time.

[Cola Scola]

Sorry, sorry, sorry.

[Stephen Colbert]

When you're ready.

[Cola Scola]

Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wait.

[Cola Scola]

What kind of truck is that? Sorry. That wasn't. That was. I was too nervous. The nails are throwing me off.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Cola Scola]

Sorry. Let me try that again. Uh, wait. Oh, man. I wrecked my shoulder last night. The. The key. The key is. And I'm not getting. I'm not nailing it right now, but the key is you have to keep in your mind, enunciating is gay. Enunciating is gay. So you have to, like. You have to be, like. You have to be really scared to, like, enunciate. You don't want people to understand. Like, basically the worst thing for a straight guy. I've done a lot of research on this. Straight guy's number one fear is being understood. So they.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes. Being known.

[Cola Scola]

Being known. Being known. So it's just. It's sort of like. It actually. You know, it seems, like, cool and confident, but it's actually like, don't look at me. Don't look at me. Do you want to try it? Do you want to say. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

I don't know if I can convincingly play straight at this point, Stephen.

[Cola Scola]

I don't know that you can either.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. Thank you very much.

[Cola Scola]

But. So we're in this together.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Cola Scola]

Right? Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. You get.

[Cola Scola]

Mm, mm, mm.

[Stephen Colbert]

You guys catch the highlights?

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is that it?

[Cola Scola]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

You got it. Now, can I ask you something? Here's an acting challenge yeah.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

An acting challenge. Give the same line. Do you know that eggs are actually bad for you? But not just do it as you just give me not straight.

[Cola Scola]

Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

Eggs are actually bad for you.

[Cola Scola]

Uh, I. I can do, like, mean, gay like.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, please.

[Cola Scola]

Did you know eggs are actually bad for you?

[Stephen Colbert]

Ow. Ow.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Ow. I feel like I just lost an argument I wasn't having.

[Cola Scola]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[Cola Scola]

Wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wait. What kind of truck is that? Can we hear that one, please? Yeah, same character.

[Cola Scola]

What kind of truck is that? What kind of truck is that? Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[Cola Scola]

See? It's different. You can. Yeah. I love acting. It's one of my favorite things in the world.

[Stephen Colbert]

Cole, there's so much. You have to come back so we can talk about so many more things.

[Cola Scola]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Cole, lovely to see you.

[Cola Scola]

Love you for being here.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you for the frippery.

[Cola Scola]

Oh, yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, Mary is on Broadway at the Lyceum Theater. Cola scola, everybody. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to the late show, you YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives. September 4th on Paramount plus someone is trying to frame us until our names.

[Becca]

Are cleared we're fugitives from interval Like.

[Stephen Colbert]

Bonnie and Clyde with better snacks. Espionage? You still as good a shot as.

[Cola Scola]

You used to be?

[Becca]

Better.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is there love? Language? We like to walk that fine line between techno thriller and romantic comedy.

[Becca]

We make up our own rules.

[Stephen Colbert]

NCIS Tony and Ziva Streaming September 4th on Paramount + September 4th on Paramount + Someone is trying to frame us until our names are cleared, we're fugitives from interval Like Bonnie and Clyde with better snacks. NCIS Tony and Ziva streaming September 4th on Paramount Plus.