At the 2025 Tony Awards in New York City on Sunday, June 8, the Oh Mary! star stepped out in a silvery blue gown inspired by Bernadette Peters’ look at the 1999 ceremony, when she won the Best Actress in a Musical award for Annie Get Your Gun.
“It’s my favorite blue, I call it Cinderella blue,” Escola told People on the red carpet. The star also pointed out that their pendant necklace features a graphic of Laura Keen, the famous British actress who starred in the play Our American Cousin, which President Abraham Lincoln attended at Ford’s Theatre in Washington on the night of his assassination.
Escola’s custom-made corset for Wiederhoeft is made of pale blue taffeta, with draped trims at the bust and hips, and hand-embroidered with metallic blue glass beads.
The dress is also embroidered with the same glass beads and embellished with silver glass beads, faceted crystals and shiny metallic sequins that form a decorative gate pattern that cascades down the front. It’s “a nod to the Order of Bernadette and the significance of the passage of time,” the press release states.
The dress’s voluminous train is made of light blue taffeta.
To further pay homage to Peters, Escola, 38, wore a reddish-brown curly wig inspired by the star’s iconic look.
“When initially discussing this look with David and Cole, we were really inspired by Bernadette Peters’ look from the 1999 Tony Awards,” Jackson Wiederhoft shared in the press release. “We were all fascinated by the colors and the medal on the front, which had a sense of false innocence.”
“We found ourselves inspired by other themes such as faded mysticism, false innocence, aggression, historical female clothing as women age, queenship and ancient gates,” the designer continued.
Escola is nominated for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in the hit Broadway comedy Oh, Mary!, for which he also wrote the play. Cynthia Erivo will host the awards ceremony.
After giving up the role of Mary Todd to Betty Gilpin and Tituss Burgess, Escola returns to the role on Tuesday, April 8. The day also marks the return of original cast members Conrad Ricamora (“Mary’s husband”) and James Scully (“Mary’s Teacher”) returns
The series brings together the entire original Broadway cast. Bianca Leigh (“Mary’s Bridesmaids”) and Tony Macht (“Mary’s Husband’s Assistant”) have starred in the absurd comedy since its premiere at New York’s Lyceum Theatre in June 2024.
The show landed on Broadway after an Off-Broadway run last February and won Escola a host of trophies, including the Obie, Drama Desk, Theatre World and Outer Critics Circle Awards.