Interview: What Attracts Michael Urie to BRIGHT COLORS, the Classics & Divas LuPone & Streisand

Known to millions of television viewers as the snappy and charming Marc St. James on Ugly Betty (from 2006 to 2010), Michael Urie has since carved out a steady, thriving acting - and now directing - career; most effectively utilizing his training from Julliard. In 2013, Michael originated the role of Barbra Streisand's fictional shopkeeper Alex More in BUYER & CELLAR. In between his current hosting gig on Logo's Cocktails & Classics, Michael is directing fellow Cocktails & Classics mate Drew Droege in his one-man show BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS, ready to open here in Los Angeles at the Celebration Theatre after a critically acclaimed run at the Barrow Street Theatre in New York.

Thank you, Michael for chatting with BroadwayWorld and myself.

So, what's the first show you've ever seen Drew Droege perform in?

I was long obsessed with Drew's Chloe videos, natch! My partner Ryan and Drew are old friends from when they both first moved to LA, so I fell in love with Drew socially before I discovered his comic genius.

You and Drew click and work well together on your Logo show Cocktails & Classics. Did his BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS come up in conversation between shots?

I think it was during a trip to New York for Cocktails & Classics that I first saw Drew perform BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS and was floored. After that I wouldn't leave him alone about it.

What can the Celebration audience expect from seeing BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS?

If you know Drew Droege's work, you can expect all of the hilarity you're used to, and so much more. BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS is a beautifully crafted glimpse into what it's like to be a modern gay man in his 30s, warts and all.

Do you find it easier to direct someone you're already worked with, than with one you've never?

There is certainly a vocabulary when you've already established a working relationship with a colleague. Drew and I do a totally different thing on Cocktails & Classics, but thanks to four seasons of working together, we get each other.

After making Marc St. James a breakout character in Ugly Betty, when did you actually say out loud, "But what I really want to do is direct!"?

Ha! I actually said it looooong before Ugly Betty! I've wanted to direct wince I was like 10 years old. Ask my childhood friends who were forced to act in my movies. It was, however, spending four years on the set of Ugly Betty that gave me the guts to actually give it try.

Which do you prefer, a live audience or through-the-camera lens?

Well, there's nothing like a live audience. So, as a performer, it's a no brainer. As a director, I've mostly directed for the camera, and have attacked it much like acting. In any given performance, the actor or actors are in a way responsible for the audience's experience - much like a for-the-camera director, who is ultimately in control of the ebbs and flows of what the audience sees and hears. I'd honestly never had the inspiration to direct a play - I think because I so like ACTING in them. But when I first saw Drew do this amazing piece as a bare bones version at Ars Nova in NY, I knew I could help him flesh out the world, and then (thanks to spending 570 or so performances alone onstage in BUYER & CELLAR) help him maintain and perfect his show night to night. I think I'd need to be inspired in this way to direct a play.

Do you want to continue both working in front of and behind the camera, as well as, on and off stage?

Absolutely! I love all of it, and am very jazzed by each new opportunity. I keep learning with every project.

You won the John Houseman Prize in your graduating class at Juilliard. What did you have to accomplish to earn that coveted honor?

Well, that's a very cool cash prize for an actor entering their final year of training, based on their achievements in classical drama. While at Juilliard, we did a lot of work by Shakespeare, Gozzi, Chekhov and more; and I loved it. I would really like to do more work like that professionally. (AHEM!)

Do you remember your acceptance speech? Did you know beforehand? Did you read from a note in your coat pocket?

There wasn't an acceptance speech, Michael Kahn presented it to me in front of my classmates. I will never forget, though, how wonderful my classmates were when my name was announced. You might imagine some animosity or jealousy, but no. As soon as Michael said my name, they all burst into cheers and applause. Honestly, it was shocking, and I still get choked up when I think about it.

You've had the enviable opportunities to work with Patti LuPone twice now. Tell us what she did to you to make you laugh and/or break your balls?

Ha-ha! Well, I wouldn't say she "broke my balls," but when you're acting with Patti LuPone, if you're not on your 'A' game, she will act circles around you. I'll never, ever forget that fateful night in SHOWS FOR DAYS when Patti snatched the cell phone out of a naughty patron's hand. Given the configuration of that theater, we were particularly plagued with wonky audience behavior, and Patti empowered us to take back our play.

Tell us what you've learnt from working with the Diva (and, I mean that in the best-est of senses.)

Do your work. Know your lines. Never, ever, ever phone it in. (pun intended)

How did you get into narrating/acting audio books? You've done five now.

I got my first audio book because Neil Patrick Harris passed on it! I LOVE doing them, I hope to do more and more, it combines so much of the great text training I got at Juilliard with my love of storytelling. It's especially fun given that I worked in an audiobook store in high school! Full circle!

What piece of theatre would you still like to tackle directing?

I think I'd love to direct some Shakespeare. They say when you want to play every role in a play, then you should direct it. There are quite a few Shakespeare plays that are filled with dream roles.

What would be your dream role on stage?

Everyone in TWELFTH NIGHT (sigh!). Truthfully, I've gotten to do some of my dream roles already (ANGELS IN AMERICA, AMADEUS, HOW TO SUCCEED), but there are tons of roles I'd like to tackle in the great plays by Williams and Chekhov and Shakespeare. But, I really think my ultimate dream role hasn't been written yet!

Any real live person you would want to portray in film or TV?

Barbra Streisand.

Good one, Alex More! So, back to BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS, what reactions are you hoping to get from the Celebration audiences?

Lots of laughs, and then, blissfully thoughtful faces in the lobby.

Thank you, Michael! You and Drew break a leg(s) on opening night!

To check out Michael's directorial collaboration with Drew, go to the Celebration Theatre, every Monday through November 14, 2016. Tickets available online: www.brightcolorsandboldpatterns.com and www.celebrationtheatre.com

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