Michael Urie is currently starring in Buyer and Cellar at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
Michael originated the role of Alex More in Jonathan Tolins' one-man play when it premiered off-off-Broadway. He then transferred with the show to off-Broadway where the piece became a major, sell out hit. Michael later reprised his performance for the play’s U.S. Tour.
Buyer and Cellar follows an out-of-work LA actor who gets a job in Barbra Streisand’s Malibu basement where she has created her very own, private shopping mall. As revealed in her 2010 'My Passion for Design' book, Streisand’s basement mall does exist; however, everything else about this play is fictionalised.
Michael is best known for his portrayal of Marc St James in Ugly Betty, and is also currently appearing in hit comedy Modern Family. For Buyer and Cellar, Michael received the Drama Desk Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and nominations for the Drama League and Outer Critics’ Circle awards.
His other New York theatre work includes: How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying (Broadway), The Cherry Orchard (Classic Stage Company), Angels in America (Signature Theatre), The Temperamentals (off-Broadway), The Revenger’s Tragedy (Red Bull Theatre) and Another Vermeer (HB Playwrights).
For television Michael’s work includes The Good Wife, Hot in Cleveland and Partners; and for film He’s Way More Famous Than You (also director), Thank You for Judging (co-director/exec producer), Beverly Hills Chihuahua, WTC View, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, The Decoy Bride, Petunia and Such Good People.
I recently spoke to Michael about bringing Buyer and Cellar to London, what he thought when he read the script for the very first time and the incredible journey the piece has taken him on…
When I first heard about Buyer and Cellar I thought it sounded absolutely crazy, but I was also very intrigued!
[laughs] I know!
What were your first impressions when you read Jonathan Tolins' script? I believe he was actually writing it with someone else in mind?
Well first he explained it to me and I thought, ‘Well that sounds nearly impossible and brilliant’! I had no idea how they would pull it off, but thought it was an amazing idea. I knew if anyone could pull it off it would be John Tolins because I knew him and his work really well. At the time we were working on a TV show together so I knew he was one of the cleverest of the bunch. When I read it I was correct; as you know when I read it I didn’t know I would be doing it… although he told me “This is for someone else, but I would love for you to do it some day”. I was happy for Jesse Tyler Ferguson and I wasn’t reading it with that terror of ‘how the hell am I going to do this’ which was nice.
Well first he explained it to me and I thought, ‘Well that sounds nearly impossible and brilliant’! I had no idea how they would pull it off, but thought it was an amazing idea. I knew if anyone could pull it off it would be John Tolins because I knew him and his work really well. At the time we were working on a TV show together so I knew he was one of the cleverest of the bunch. When I read it I was correct; as you know when I read it I didn’t know I would be doing it… although he told me “This is for someone else, but I would love for you to do it some day”. I was happy for Jesse Tyler Ferguson and I wasn’t reading it with that terror of ‘how the hell am I going to do this’ which was nice.
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