Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie, trapped in Barbra Streisand’s basement
By Will Stroude
Former Ugly Betty actor Michael Urie is wowing audiences in London at the moment with his star turn in the one-man show Buyer & Cellar. It’s ‘the totally made-up story of a totally fabricated individual who gets a job working in the totally real street of shops that Barbra Streisand built in her basement’, but as mad a premise as that sounds, it’s won unprecedented critical acclaim and success since it debuted Off-Broadway two years ago.
The unmanned underground network of shop-fronts beneath Barbra’s home sounds like an urban myth, but served as the inspiration for the play after its existence became public in the legendary star’s coffee table book My Passion for Design.
“I’d never heard of anything like this,” Michael admits. “Since I’ve been doing the play I’ve heard of other people who have similar thing to this, but it is extreme! It’s an eccentricity – I think she’s definitely in the minority of even rich people! The play came from a conversation that [writer] Jon [Tolins] had at a party where they started talking about this mall, and he said ‘What would it be like to be the guy that works down there?!’ We have no evidence that anyone does work down there – though I’m sure someone has to go down and clean and rearrange!”
While the play tells the fictional story of Alex, an out-of-work actor hired to man Babs’ subterranean shops, Michael also plays Barbara herself, her husband James Brolin and Alex’s boyfriend Barry. “Jonathan teller imagines that this poor struggling actor gets hired to man the shops, basically. And beyond that they get to know each other, they become friends, and conflicts arise between shopping sprees”, he explains. His portrayal is no drag performance though, with Michael quick to point out that he merely embodies iconic Funny Girl star – “no putty nose or wig!” – after studying her mannerisms in her old movies and interviews.
Streisand is yet to see the play herself, and Michael admits he’s happy to keep it that way.
“If the audience knew she was there it would be a disaster, because no one would be able to concentrate – least of all me!” he laughs.
“It’s historical fiction about someone who’s still alive, so if she was in the room… Let’s just say I’m glad she’s not been to see it with an audience!”
You can see Buyer & Cellar at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory until May 2. menierchocolatefactory.com
Elsewhere in this month’s issue of Attitude, with Adam Lambert on the cover and a massive 11-page special on the pop star inside:
Our massive election special. We speak to every major party leader and ask the tough questions: Who’s really going to stand up and fight for LGBT rights? Plus we chat to some of the LGBT candidates seeking your vote across the country.
We speak to ex-Westlife star Markus Feehily about his return to music as a solo artist, the pressures of life in a boy band (paging Zayn!) and his battle with depression.
And we sit down for a chat with the one and only DAVID BECKHAM. He talks fitness, style, and – yes – life with Victoria.
You can read all that plus more in the new issue of Attitude, which is available to download to your mobile, iPad or tablet device now, at Pocketmags.com/Attitude.
The issue is in shops now and you can also have it delivered directly to your door at newsstand.co.uk.