Since his performance in “Oh, Mary!” on Broadway last year, Michael Urie has been eager to return to the stage.
The actor, celebrated for his roles in television series such as “Ugly Betty” and “Shrinking” as well as his extensive theater work, portrayed Mary’s Teacher alongside Jinkx Monsoon in Cole Escola’s Tony-winning play. The show offers a humorous take on Mary Todd Lincoln, reimagining her as a cabaret star prone to comedic outbursts. This entertaining premise, combined with physical comedy and a surprising twist, has resonated with audiences in New York and London’s West End, where it moved last year with Mason Alexander Park in the lead role.
“I was like, ‘Please tell them that I want to come back.’ And then my manager at one point was like, ‘It might be London,’” Urie reveals. We meet at a coffee shop near the “Oh, Mary!” rehearsal space on a warm July day. Having arrived less than a week ago from rehearsal, Urie shows no signs of fatigue or jet-lag, except perhaps for the pot of tea he orders, which could just be an effort to blend in with the locals.
Although Urie has performed in London before, this marks his first starring role on the West End. The chance to work with Escola, who plays Mary, and to be part of a filmed version of the play, made accepting the role an easy decision. However, there was a scheduling conflict to resolve.
Production for the fourth season of “Shrinking,” Apple TV’s acclaimed comedy-drama featuring Jason Segel as a grieving therapist, conflicted with the proposed summer dates for “Oh, Mary!” In the series, Urie plays Brian, the lovable yet self-centered best friend, a role that earned him his second Emmy nomination.
“Immediately, my ‘Shrinking’ bosses were like, ‘Let us look into this. Obviously we want you to do this, we know how important it is to you,’” Urie says, running his fingers through his perfectly coiffed curls. “Because, you know, it’s such an honor to be the one that they asked.”
After some adjustments, Urie received approval to take three weeks off from “Shrinking” – one for rehearsal and two for performances starting Monday through August 1. He acknowledges how rare this opportunity is.
“I mean, I kind of have the two greatest jobs in the world right now,” he says. “Not kind of, they are the two greatest jobs I’ve ever had.”
Surprisingly, the one week of rehearsal time is more than Urie had when he originally played Mary’s Teacher on Broadway. “I only had three days,” Urie says, noting that he had already committed to a family cruise with his partner, actor and writer Ryan Spahn, when he received the call. “This is long for me!”
Reflecting on returning to the role of Mary’s Teacher, Urie jokes, “It’s like riding a bike, but it’s a different bike. It’s like, how does this bike work?” He adds, “I had to refresh, but it came back. I probably feel a little more ownership this time just because I’m getting to really collaborate with the director and the playwright … To get to be in the room with Cole and [director] Sam [Pinkleton] and their amazing London team — it’s been really cool, really dreamy, really exciting.”
Michael Urie in “Oh, Mary!” on Broadway.
Evan Zimmerman
He recently completed a one-on-one rehearsal with Escola to “make it our own and find what our version of the play is like,” especially in preparation for the live capture on July 28, where “we’re making choices that are forever,” he says. No pressure, indeed.
The two first crossed paths in 2018 when Escola attended Urie’s performance in “Torch Song” off-Broadway, maintaining contact ever since. “They’re wildly inventive and constantly learning,” Urie praises Escola. “I watch them learn every day on a play they’ve done hundreds of times over the course of years and wrote. And they’re so sweet and generous, and not at all like — you know, this could easily be old hat to them now. And it’s not. I really feel like I’m part of the family and not a guest.”
Urie returns not only as Mary’s Teacher but also joins Giles Terera as Mary’s Husband, who was Olivier-nominated for the role on the West End, along with original Broadway cast members Bianca Leigh and Tony Macht as Mary’s Chaperone and Mary’s Husband’s Assistant, respectively.
“I do a lot of theater and I’m really invested in queer theater. And to get to be a part of this play… I mean, I was so proud of the play long before I was even part of it; just proud that it existed. And then it was a giant hit,” he says. “It’s very hard to make a hit on Broadway, especially these days, and this play captured something. And it’s done it here, too!”
“Oh, Mary!” continues its successful Broadway run, with “Hacks” star Meg Stalter currently playing the title role. Previous actors in the role include Maya Rudolph, Jane Krakowski, and Betty Gilpin. With its West End run extended through January, more stars are expected to join the production. When asked about future casting, Urie suggests, “Martin Short as Mary and Steve Martin as Mary’s Husband,” adding, “Oh my God, that would be so funny! I think an older Mary could be really interesting, because Mary Todd Lincoln was actually older than Abraham Lincoln. So, you know, what about Meryl Streep? There’s a lot of amazing people from ‘SNL’ that could do it: Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer. Just anybody who’s like, an animal on stage.”
Upon returning from London, Urie will resume production on “Shrinking” Season 4. Originally planned for three seasons, the show will continue with a two-year time jump. Urie teases that “everyone is in a very different place than they were at the end of Season 3.” His character, Brian, ended the season by deciding to relocate to Tennessee with his husband, Charlie (Devin Kawaoka), and their baby daughter, Sutton, to support Charlie’s job opportunity.
Michael Urie in “Shrinking.”
©Apple TV/Courtesy Everett Coll
“I can’t imagine he’ll have a good time,” Urie says of Brian’s time in Tennessee. “He’s starting to put other people first, and he’s starting to understand the importance of family. Brian was, in some ways, at the beginning of a journey when we left him. So you get to find out a little bit about how that journey’s gone.”
Urie discovered his Emmy nomination for best supporting actor in a comedy series — for the second consecutive year — when co-star Jessica Williams FaceTimed him. He is again competing with fellow co-star, the legendary Harrison Ford.
“I want him to win. He’s fucking awesome, and he’s always been awesome,” Urie says, adding that the two texted after hearing the news. “Yes, he’s been given the AFI Life Achievement Award, the Cecil B. DeMille, the SAG Life Achievement Award, but they don’t give him prizes in any of these competitive categories ever.”
In a moment of nostalgia, Urie has been exchanging texts with Vanessa Williams, his longtime friend and “Ugly Betty” co-star, who is also performing on the West End in “The Devil Wears Prada” musical. The pair plan to meet up in London as the iconic series approaches its 20th anniversary this fall.
“She kind of taught me how to be famous,” Urie says of Williams. “I remember her teaching us how to walk a runway, and she taught me how to find the lens on a camera. I learned so much from her because we had so many scenes together — little things about being on set, and about how to treat people.”
Although there are no plans yet, Urie believes an “Ugly Betty” reunion or revival “would be the greatest,” adding: “We would all love that so, so much.”
Michael Urie in “Ugly Betty.”
ABC / courtesy Everett Collectio
“I also think it would be so interesting in a woke world, you know?” he adds. “Because that show was so ahead of its time. When you watch it back, there’s a couple of cringey things, but for the most part, it was ahead in terms of the way you treat people, in terms of diversity. It was very feminist, very queer-friendly, queer-forward. It was all those things — in 2006.”
Where does he think Marc St. James would be now? “I like to think he’s running Mode, but the truth is he’s probably still an underling of Wilhelmenia somehow,” Urie says, smiling and taking one last sip of tea. “He’s definitely still best friends with Amanda. I really wanna know where Justin Suarez is, what’s he doing now? And what has Betty done? What empire is she conquering? Because she was always the brightest and the boldest.”
