Catching Up With Conrad Ricamora

We’re longtime fans of Conrad Ricamora, going all the way back to “Here Lies Love” at the Public, and we could not be any more pleased to have him on the podcast. He is currently playing Mary’s husband in Cole Escola’s hit Broadway comedy “Oh, Mary!” And the show truly is a hit: We recorded the episode right before the announcement of an extension through Nov. 10. Not only that, but “Oh, Mary!” recently broke the Lyceum’s all-time box-office record by grossing just over $1 million in a week.

So, about Mary’s husband: since she’s Mary Todd Lincoln, it follows that Conrad is playing Abraham. Just not the Abraham Lincoln you might be familiar with.

It was a pleasure to talk with him about some key moments of his career: “Here Lies Love” at the Public and on Broadway, Bartlett Sher’s “The King and I,” Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang’s “Soft Power,” the popular revival of “Little Shop of Horrors.” Conrad was candid about the issues of stereotyping that long have hampered Asian American actors. And tennis, of course.

Here’s Elisabeth’s interview with Conrad, from when he went into “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Thanks to Christian Huygen for our theme music.