The newest royal on Broadway? Michael Urie.
The actor — best known for his breakout role as Marc St. James on Ugly Betty, his award-winning performance in the one-man play Buyer & Cellar, and his mainstay character in the Apple TV+ series Shrinking — is now starring in the 2024 revival of Once Upon a Mattress as Prince Dauntless, the show’s leading man opposite Sutton Foster as Winnifred the Woebegone.
The beloved musical comedy from Mary Rodgers, with a new book adaptation by Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), will run through November 30 at the Hudson Theatre before moving to L.A.’s Ahmanson Theatre from December 10 to January 5. Inspired by the 1835 Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea,” Mattress first appeared on Broadway in 1959. It emerged as a mainstay of theater groups in the following decades, a legacy Urie quickly learned since his casting.
“I’ve never been in a show where I had more people come up and say, ‘I played your role in high school, or middle school, or camp, or regional theater, or community theater.’ It’s such a popular show,” Urie says. “I had seen it one time, in high school. The middle school that I had just left did it, so I went back and watched my friends [who] were in it. That was the only experience I ever had with it until they asked me to do it.”
Though he expertly embodied characters like Marc, who worked under Vanessa Williams for Mode magazine, or the gay man curating Barbra Streisand’s Malibu basement in Buyer & Cellar, Urie was hesitant to play the prince sharing a Mattress with Foster.
“It wasn’t one of those rite-of-passage shows for me,” he explains. “But I read the script, and I listened to the music, and [he’s] just the most adorable character. I was delighted that someone thought of me for the part.”
Urie has fond memories of working with the Tony-winning actress on TV Land’s Younger, in which Foster plays a 40-something divorced mother passing as a 20-something to compete in the publishing world. “I had a recurring role and did a bunch of episodes over the years,” he recalls. “I knew her socially, and then I got to work with her on that. I knew that working with her was going to be easy because she’s such a sweet, giving person, and an incredible leader. Younger was one of the happiest sets I’ve ever been on, and it was very much because of her and Hilary Duff being the stars.”
“But that’s a TV show. That’s not a musical,” Urie adds. “I don’t have musical theater training. I’ve sort of trained on the job, and I’ve done a bunch of musicals, but I will tell you: my first day on this production [of Mattress], I had dance rehearsal, just me and her. I was more nervous to do that than the first time I had a scene with [Shrinking costar] Harrison Ford.”
Apple TV+
Of course, dancing with Foster can be daunting for even the dauntless; she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, for Thoroughly Modern Millie and Anything Goes. However, Shrinking, a dramedy where Urie portrays a lawyer and friend to a grieving therapist played by Jason Segel, has its own heady challenges, particularly with scenes alongside Ford as a doctor with Parkinson’s.
“Being thrown into a dance number with [Foster] is as top of the game as you can get as a musical theater performer,” Urie says. “It’s like doing scenes with Harrison Ford. This is their wheelhouse. And just like Harrison, to be honest, she was awesome and great, and makes mistakes and laughs about them, but is also far superior to me as a dancer and carries me through the numbers. I never worried about the person she would be. She’s so wonderful, and sweet, and supportive. But dancing with her, that’s like going toe-to-toe with Muhammad Ali in the ring. It’s quite an experience.”
Carol Burnett, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Tracey Ullman are all legendary actresses who brought Princess Winnifred to life in past stage and TV productions. “But to do it in 2024, there’s nobody better than [Foster],” Urie attests. “She’s so inventive, so game, and endlessly imaginative. It’s inspiring. We’re all made better by her as the sort of linchpin of the show.”
Beyond his deep respect for and great rapport with Foster, Urie considers Mattress a valuable opportunity to play a leading man in a musical. “I’ve been the leading man in other things before, even in heterosexual parts,” he says. “But I don’t get that opportunity very often.”
“I get a lot of amazing opportunities. I’ve played a lot of fantastic characters — some of the greatest ever written, in fact — and I don’t ever intend to stop doing that. But playing a straight character in a sweet, fun musical that just makes people happy is great. I certainly wasn’t going to pass that up. And then to read the part…thank god the songs are in my key. They’re in my register!”
In addition to the register, Urie finds that the role of the good-hearted Prince Dauntless “is a good fit for me. And I had no idea. It wasn’t even on my radar. I’ve always wanted to be in musicals, but I’m just not a natural singer, and I’m not a natural dancer. I can dance, and I can sing, but I’m not going to be in Les Mis and I’m not going to be in A Chorus Line, you know what I mean? I’m not going to be in Phantom of the Opera, and I’m not going to be in Fosse.”
“Anytime I see or listen to a musical that is a role that I think I could play, I track it down and I try to play it. For example, Bud Frump in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, or the role of Hysterium in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, or even Bob Crewe in Jersey Boys. These are roles in musicals that I love, and that I knew I could do. When they’d come up, I’d try to grab them. But this one wasn’t on my radar. I’m so lucky that [director] Lear [deBessonet] thought of me; I wouldn’t have known to go after it.”
Urie also has a forthcoming film role in Goodrich, which stars Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis. And he is not the only cast member of Ugly Betty, which initially ran from 2006 to 2010 on ABC before recently finding new fans through Netflix, to have had a good year. Urie lights up when asked about them.
“We’re all still completely in love with each other, and that is a family that I think we’ll carry with us forever,” he says. “I adore Hacks, and I’m so happy for Mark [Indelicato]. He’s so good on the show. America [Ferrera] was so brilliant in Barbie. She should absolutely be an Academy Award nominee, and now she is.”
The actor adds, “Vanessa [Williams] just belongs in musicals. She’s a real triple threat, and she’s perfect for The Devil Wears Prada. They’re lucky that they got her. Becki Newton and I still text...every day. She’s still one of my very best friends, and she’s kicking butt on The Lincoln Lawyer. She also has such beautiful children, all born after Ugly Betty, who are turning out to be these awesome people.”
“It’s so nice that everyone’s gone their separate ways and thrived. I miss them, and I’d love to get back together. I’d love to reboot Ugly Betty, do a couple of one-offs, or just get together as a group. But it’s very hard to tie us all down,” Urie teases. “I continue to count my blessings that I had a job with people like that so early in my career. It’s really rare to have something so perfect, and I’m so lucky that I had it.”
This article is part of the Out September/October issue, which hits newsstands on August 28. Support queer media and subscribe— or download the issue through Apple News, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader starting August 13.
