Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie tells us that he’s rejoining the strange, wonderful world of Celebrity Autobiography on Friday, June 26.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with Celebrity Autobiography, it is just as it sounds: comedians read, word for word, from autobiographies of celebrities.

Nightline did a story about it last year, and Urie was one of the people featured:

Hi-larious.  It’s kind of a funny push-back from our “tell and show everyone everything all the time” reality society.  I believe I remember where Urie once read from Miley Cyrus‘ book, which would have been so funny you couldn’t see straight.

Joining Urie at The Gramercy Theatre, 127 East 23rd Street (at Lexington) are B.D. Wong, Kristen Johnson, Jackie Hoffman, Rachel Dratch, Frank DeCaro, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, and they’ll be reading from fellow celebrities like Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, Ivana Trump, Star Jones, Burt and Loni, Tommy and Pamela, Zsa Zsa and more.

The show starts at 9:30 pm, and you can get Orchestra cabaret table seating for just $25 (normally $40).  See Urie’s blog for more details.

I think Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie can be proud of this one.  He is currently starring in the off-Broadway production ‘The Tempermentals’.  I first told you about it in this post.

Well, the reviews are coming in, and if this one from Variety is any clue, we can say they are quite favorable.  The review is worth a read if only for this passage:

Since we enter the play in medias res, it’s hard to know exactly what to make of Harry [Hay – played by Thomas Jay Ryan] and Rudi Gernreich (Michael Urie) when we first see them, sitting opposite one another on folding chairs under a bare bulb. Harry is in a nondescript suit, seriously grilling fashion designer Rudi, who wears a form-fitting black shirt and dress pants, being coy. It looks like the long-lost gay episode of "Dragnet."

Apparently, Urie’s character Rudi is more ‘out’ than Harry, at least as far as one could be in the early 50’s.

The reviewer, Variety’s Sam Thielman, especially loved the performance of Urie’s co-star Ryan, but he also had kind words for Michael’s portrayal of Gernreich, saying, “Between this performance and Urie ("Ugly Betty") as the conflicted Gernreich, who became his generation’s Calvin Klein, helmer Jonathan Silverstein has the tools to turn the play into a meditation on the problems of being an outcast.”

The money quote says it all:  “What ought to be a boring history lesson frequently transcends itself to become an engaging portrait of a man rightly obsessed with fairness.”

It sounds like Thielman was pleasantly surprised.

Michael Urie has some pictures from the play at his blog.  ‘The Tempermenals’ runs through May 14th at the Barrow Group Studio Theater.

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

Speaking of the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, here are some pics of Ugly Betty’s Vanessa Williams and Michael Urie on the red carpet at the event in NYC this past weekend.

OMG, they glow in the dark!  Seriously, they do make a good looking, if flamboyant, pair.

Urie’s Jacket?  Want. 

Yes, I’d look ridiculous in it.  But, it looks so snazzy on Michael it would be hard to resist.

As for the Awards, the event in NYC was one of three planned by GLAAD, which honors media companies and individuals for fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.  A few awards were given out on Saturday, but most will be given in a ceremony in Los Angeles on April 18.  As has been the case for the last 3 years, Ugly Betty is nominated (and will probably win) in the Outstanding Comedy Series category.

As for Vanessa Williams’ dress - if my wife and I were out shopping and saw it on the rack, my first instinct would be…uh, no.  But, it really, really works on Vanessa.  She ALWAYS looks great with the tunic look, even if it is iridescent. 

Images: Newscom

Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie is heading to the stage again, this time as the lead in Jon Marans play The Tempermentals, which begins performances April 30 at the Barrow Group Studio Theater.  It’s a limited engagement - the man’s busy, you know - it opens May 4 and will run through May 18.  The show is directed by Jonathan Silverstein. 

Here’s something I did not know:  ‘Temperamental’ was a code word for “homosexual” in the early 1950s, part of a created language of secret words that gay men used to communicate.  (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called temperamental ). 

The play tells the story of two men in the early 1950’s, Harry Hay and Rudi Gernreich, who built the first gay rights organization in the United States.  The two were actual men who founded the Mattachine Society.

This seems like a pretty big role - Michael’s career seems to be on the rise!  He’s going to be big on stage and screen, it appears.  Woot!

This looks quite interesting - those of you who will be in New York at the time should check it out!

Image: Bauer-Griffin

You HAVE to check out this week’s Ugly Betty Podcast at ABC.com!   Not only is it hilarious as usual, not only do Becki Newton and Michael Urie drop a few minor spoilers, but they answer a question “on air” from Ugly Betty mega-fan (and frequent Ugly Betty News commenter) Beatrice B!

Beatrice asked Michael and Becki about writer Brian Tanen (is he married?), and then it got hilarious.  Becki and Michael doubted the existence of Beatrice, and assumed that she was Tanen himself, singing his own praises.  They finally answered the question (he’s not married) but only after acting out a bit of comedy based on Tanen faking the Beatrice identity.  In the comments here, Beatrice took it all in good humor, and was pleased to hear her question, and get the answer she wanted to hear about Tanen’s marital status. 

Becki and Michael also hint that things will not be well with Wilhelmina and Connor this week (something we had already guessed), and also revealed Henry’s Facebook secret…he has a new girlfriend.  So, my guess that Henry had married Charlie was wrong, and I think this is a much better “secret”. 

They also go in-depth about the non-cancellation of Ugly Betty.  It’s funny that they keep Ausiello “nameless”.

If you’ve never heard the podcasts before, you have got to tune in!  It really is the Marc and Amanda show; besides reading and answering questions, it’s really a freeform stream of consciousness by these two very talented people.  There’s no telling where they’re going to go once they get started - that’s part of the fun!

Image: Newscom

Here are some new photos of Michael Urie and Becki Newton on the set of Ugly Betty.

They have obviously been on quite a shopping spree, and I have to wonder if someone else isn’t in this scene. Many of the photos show Becki and Michael standing beside the cameras, watching something. Of course, they could have just been watching the crew move stuff around, but they sure seem to be interested in whatever it is.

I’ve seen several “How to save Ugly Betty” posts and articles lately, and one thing they have in common is they think there should be more Marc and Amanda. This makes sense to me. I think the show should be centered aroung Betty, Daniel, Marc and Amanda, with Wilhelmina as the foil and the other characters as support to keep the story lines moving along. (I think Marc needs to slowly break away from Wilhelmina)

Some go so far as to say that Marc and Mandy should start being mean to Betty again, but I really think the genie is out of the bottle on that one. Perhaps Amanda, who truly is superficial (but good-hearted). Marc’s superficiality seems to be totally to advance his career, so it just wouldn’t be believable out of him now.

Watch Marc and Mandy make out (I’m sure with hilarious results) in tonight’s episode, 3.13 - Kissed Off. We’ll have a live blog, join us, won’t you?

More pics after the jump!

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Here are some new photos from recent filming of Ugly Betty in NYC! 

These are from an outdoor scene with America Ferrera and Michael Urie.  A few of them seem to be taken during the actual filming of the scene, others appear to be between takes (especially the ones with America Ferrera out of her Betty glasses).

I wonder what’s up?  Is Marc actually cooperating with Betty?  Or is this some plot of his to get ahead in YETI?   We’ll just have to wait and see.

As for the style, it’s typical Betty.  The various pieces are wonderful, some even spectacular. But the combinations are hideous.  I STILL love that purse!

For those of you who were crazy about Michael’s curly hair earlier in the season, he’s gone to a more sculpted look here.  Is he carrying a manbag, or is that some kind of whacked out briefcase?

If these were taken yesterday, Urie says at his blog that they took a break from filming to watch the inauguration yesterday.  He’s even got a pic!

Speaking of pics, there are many more after the jump!

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I’d like to formally welcome Michael Urie to the world of blogging. Yes, the Ugly Betty star has a blog! This is a wonderful development.

Urie has been tweaking the blog a little bit (right now he has a purple-ish theme that seems to work pretty well). He’s put some work into it; although his first post was only on January 6, already the sidebars are a nifty resource. It’s pretty cool to have links to Mode After Hours and the podcasts right there, instead of having to navigate through 3 or 4 layers of the ABC website.

He’s even linked to the post by yours truly about the Monte Carlo Television Festival in the “Press” section. Woot.

This is a fascinating time. Stars are on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and some have their own blogs. We can hear what they have to say, unfiltered. I would imagine Prozac sales to publicists are through the roof.

Even networks create semi-faux websites to promote their shows, such as ModeNy.com. The old rules have changed.

Word of warning, Michael - once it’s “out there”, it’s out there. Always save your posts as drafts, and have a drink before hitting “publish” . Don’t ask me how I know…

I’m looking forward to hearing from Michael. Post Away!

Image: Bauer-Griffin

The Ugly Betty cast was out in force at the premiere of Shrek, The Musical. I’ll get to the women in a minute, but there were a couple of Ugly Betty men there as well. Here are photos of Mark Indelicato and Micheal Urie!

By the way, a UBN commenter had mentioned worries that Indelicato might be anorexic. I share those fears, but young Mark looks a lot healthier in these photos. Perhaps it’s because he’s wearing a layered outfit, though. We should be very careful about overexpressing these fears: when I was his age, I was probably about this size. Trust me when I say I’ve, er, grown.

Urie has an interesting look as well. Black on black, tie slightly undone. Having lived through the real thing, I’d say he’s sporting an 80’s look. Not in a Miami Vice or Michael Jackson kind of way, but nevertheless it reminds me of back in the day.

More pics of Indelicato and Urie after the jump, with the women upcoming.

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Michael Urie recently hopped across the pond to attend the National Television Awards, broadcast on ITV from Albert Hall. Ugly Betty was nominated for Most Popular Comedy Programme (I LOVE spelling it that way!), although the award went to Benidorm.

This is an interesting look for Urie; it’s almost as if he stole Alec Mapa’s glasses.

It appears I’m not the only one wondering what’s going on with urie’s character Marc. 3.07, Crush’d, was a disaster for him. Cheating on Cliff, and not even over some long term emotional attachment, but anonymous sex (stereotype much, UB writers?). Then, in a moment of guilt, he proposes marriage?

I know Marc has done many dastardly deeds in Wilhelmina’s name, but this just feels different. The only thing worse he could do is betray Amanda. Please, UB writiers, Marc should be ruthless at work, loveable and sympathetic at home. That’s how I feel about it at least.