Michael Urie's Livestream Performance of BUYER & CELLAR Raises Over $200,000

The Sunday, April 19th livestream performance of Buyer & Cellar has raised $209,262 and counting for the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS' COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund.

Obie, Lortel, and Drama Desk Award- winner Michael Urie (Grand Horizons, Torch Song) reprised his role in the broadcast that streamed live from the living room of his apartment on Sunday, April 19.

Written by Jonathan Tolins, the benefit performance of Buyer & Cellar was directed by Nic Cory (Pride Plays 2019) and is based on the original production directed by Stephen Brackett.

Donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS' COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund are helping those onstage, backstage and behind the scenes receive urgent medical care and financial assistance during the pandemic and work shutdown. With every passing day that theaters remain dark, entertainment professionals face unprecedented health and financial challenges requiring immediate attention and resources.

In the basement of a house on her Malibu estate, Barbra Streisand created a private fantasy world to display her accumulated tchotchkes: a narrow cobblestoned "street" of boutiques, from an antique doll store and confectionery with its own taffy-making machine to a dress shop filled with favorite costumes from her films. In a one-man comedy, Urie plays Alex More, who is down on his luck after being recently fired from Disneyland. He lands a job curating the basement of Barbra Streisand.

Urie's performance in the 2013 one-man show Buyer & Cellar won him a Clarence Derwent Award, as well as a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. The production was the recipient of the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show.

Buyer & Cellar had its world premiere at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in 2013. It was originally directed by Stephen Brackett and featured choreography by Sam Pinkleton, set design by Andrew Boyce, costume design by Jessica Pabst, lighting design by Eric Southern, sound design by Stowe Nelson, and properties by Andrew Diaz. Hannah Woodward served as production stage manager. It was subsequently produced commercially Off-Broadway by Darren Bagert, Dan Shaheen, and Ted Snowdon, on a North American tour, in London and continues to be performed throughout the world.

Original artwork by Ryan Casey.