Video: Michael Urie Reflects on His Fairytale Broadway Season

I mean, I told Sutton at the end of that run, I will do this show with you in a barn

And I said that to everyone that would listen, actually. And I kept saying that, and at one point the producer was like

what about a Broadway theater? And I was like, better. Barn fine, Broadway better

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World. Michael Urie charmed audiences in the musical Once Upon a Mattress

He's also just won the Critics' Choice Award for Shrinking. and I caught up with him here at the Museum of Broadway

Looking back at Once Upon a Mattress, we all first fell in love with it at Encores and then it moved to Broadway

Did you all know early on? What a journey you've been on with this show. Well, so when we, like the first night

when we started the show at Encores, we were terrified. Obviously, you know, we rehearsed for 10 days

and it's basically full production. They call it a concert, but you know

we're doing the whole show. And we went out there and they started laughing

and applauding immediately. And I was like, oh, is this a hit

You sort of have this voice in your head. You're doing the show

And you're like, wait, they really seem to like it. And of course, Encore's audiences are the best

because they're so with it. They know the theater so, so, so well

And they're so excited to hear a new version of an old show

or a new take or whatever. But it was really exciting. And I mean, I told Sutton at the end of that run, I will do this show with you in a barn

And I said that to everyone that would listen, actually. And I kept saying that

And at one point, the producer was like, what about a Broadway theater? And I was like, better

Barn fine. Broadway better. So then we went. And it just like, it was like so dreamy that it worked out the way it did

And we got the beautiful Hudson Theater, which is like this jewel box. and then we got to go and do it in Los Angeles

at the Amundsen and bring theater to LA something joyful in L was very much needed That town been through it

And we were able to go and put a lot of smiles on a lot of people's faces. What was it like sharing the stage with Sutton Foster

Because I'm sure neither of you knew sometimes how you were going to break each other up. Sutton Foster is just electric

She's like a supernova on stage. And when you're out there with her, it feels

first of all, you feel like you're the only person in the world. And it feels like you're more

it's a little bit like being on drugs. You feel like you're more alive than normal

Like this is a bigger experience than regular life. And it's not just like taking it to the back of the house

Yes, that's part of it. Part of it's being big. But it's this beautiful ephemeral thing that we know and they know

We're in this together right now in this moment. And what's happening here won't happen to anybody else

And it's so true with her. She's just the most alive person I've ever shared a stage with

And I miss her. I really do. I mean, it was hard to say goodbye to that show because I thought, will I ever have this again

And listen, I have amazing jobs. Like, I get to work with Harrison Ford

I mean, like, all these things are, but there is something so special about going on a stage for a group of people that are excited to see you

and excited to spend two hours going on this, like, beautiful, fun, fairytale voyage together

and this show means a lot to people. You won the Critics' Choice Award

Congratulations for shrinking. I mean, what can you tell us? New season? What can you tell us about

And just winning the award. Well, that was a crazy night I went with my sister and it was like the second award and we were a little bit late so we literally ushered in we sat down and then it was our award And I remember turning to my sister and being like I not going to win

And she was like, I don't know, I think you might. And I was like, what do you know? You're not in show business

And then they said my name, and it was just, you know, it's hard to explain

And I've never been there before. So it is a truly out-of-body experience

And then you go up and I'm like, there's Angelina Jolie. It's suddenly like, oh, look, that's all these movie stars staring back at you

And you have the floor. And luckily I thought about what I might say just in case

They did one of those video packages the night before where they show the rehearsal

And they showed a chair with my name on it. And I was like, whoa, this just got real

so I did actually think about what I would say but it was very special and I'm so

honored because I you know like my show has a lot of

heavies in it serious amazing actors and to think that the critics

who are the most discerning audience there is that they saw what I was

doing and appreciated it it really meant a lot it was a really like

it was a surprising and special thing and it gave me quite a bit of validation. Now I'm impossible. Well, we knew that. You know

finally with LGBTQ plus rights being stripped away in this country and all around the world

you got to host the GLAAD Awards. And I know this is very special to your heart as it is to mine

and millions of others, what that night meant to you. Yeah. The GLAAD Awards was a very beautiful

night. It was the 36th annual and this year, you know, the tired phrase, but now more than ever

we need to celebrate each other and especially celebrate the representation in the media which is what the GLAAD Awards do So whether it gay guys on Twitch playing video games and talking about how they normal and just like everybody else

even though they're fabulous and different, that's huge. Whether it's magazine articles, TV news, movies, TV shows

video games and podcasts and blogs you know like there's a lot of opportunity for us to be

well represented accurately represented fairly represented um and it and it's also very easy

for people on the other side to just say stuff that isn't true and turn people against us so

i was humbled and honored to like be the host of this this night but more so i was just so

grateful to be in such a celebratory room. You know, you, it's one of those rooms you look around

and you think, well, everyone here's done the work. We're cool. We've done the work. And, um

it's also one of those rooms that like super cramped, super tight. Uh, everyone's like on top

of each other. Nobody got tense. There was no edge. Everyone was very happy to be amongst each

other. Supportive. Congrats on your award. Congrats on your award. It was beautiful. It was a really

really special night and night and it's on Hulu. So anybody can watch it, which means if you're in

a place where you might not have a community, um, or you might not be able to get to your community

you can watch this and see it. And, um, that was the most important thing for me was like to send

out into the world a reminder that you are not alone. Even if it feels that way, even if people

are saying you are. You aren't. There's a huge LGBTQ community. And that's what the GLAAD Award

is all about. That's what we're trying to do with Pride Plays. Pride Plays is this queer theater

festival that I co-founded. It's coming back and we're looking for plays that represent the world

the way it could be