How Michael Urie spends his Sundays
Michael Urie is a compulsive performing chameleon.
Urie, known for his work on “Ugly Betty,” plays Sir Robin in the revival of Monty Python’s “Spamalot,” which opened Nov. 16 at the St. James Theater. He described the show as “a high-quality British comedy with classic musical theater, production numbers and fart jokes.”
Mr. Urie, 43, also returns for season two of “Shrinking” on Apple TV+, and will switch stage roles in January when he takes a two-week leave of absence to perform in “Once Upon a Mattress” at Encores! opposite Sutton Foster. Then there is a play reading at the Roundabout Theatre; a scripted podcast series; and post-production work on the film “Goodrich” with Michael Keaton.
“The more I have to do, the better I am at it,” Urie said. “I tend to say yes to everything.”
He moved to New York from Plano, Texas at the age of 19 to study at the Juilliard School and never left. In 2021, he and his partner of 15 years, Ryan Spahn, 43, a writer and actor, bought a one-bedroom apartment on the first floor of an antebellum building on the Upper West Side.
“During Covid, we longed for a home life,” Mr. Urie said. “Living on the first floor feels like there is so much life outside our windows. As if we were in a house, in a busy neighborhood.”
Their dog, President McKinley, a Chihuahua-Boston terrier mix, and cat, Dawson, a gray tabby, live with them.
AWAKENING On Sundays I sleep until nine o’clock because I have a day with two shows behind me. As I get older, my body wakes me up so I worry less about sleeping because my alarm clock, which is set to a soothing marimba sound. It used to be a fire alarm, but that became too disturbing.
COFFEE, WALKING AND TALKING I make our coffee, Trader Joe’s medium roast – because I make it stronger than Ryan’s – which I drink with one Splenda and a splash of oat milk. We have a new Mr. Coffee and we keep our filters in a cute planter that looks like our dog. I put on some clothes, often what I wore the night before, and Ryan and I walk with Kinley through Riverside Park. This is our time to check in with each other and get our blood flowing.
SEARCHABILITY I have a second coffee at home while Ryan feeds the dog and cat. I read the news and look at the leftover emails. There is a bazaar a few blocks away that we go to at 77th and Columbus. And Residential Construction. We love a thrift store find. We recently bought a patchwork-colored armchair and a beautiful faux Tiffany table lamp with a stained glass shade. We are a perpetual work in progress.
SMOOTHIES, THEN GYM We do intermittent fasting, so we usually get the Peanut Butter Split, a protein shake from Juice Generation, or the Blue Magic, which gives you so much energy, from Juice Press. By noon we are at the Equinox at 76th and Amsterdam. I’m not a class person and free weights make me nervous. Ryan is going to do cardio. I do my own solo yoga, strength machines and dumbbells. Maybe I’ll listen to a few podcasts that keep me engaged: “Up First,” “Pop Culture Happy Hour,” “SmartLess” and “Fly on the Wall” with Dana Carvey and David Spade, who talk about “SNL”
PRE-SHOW PREPARATION At 1 p.m. I shaved and showered. We don’t really eat. We might have chicken salad sandwiches or egg bites from Fairway. We generally stand around and say, “I’m going to eat this” or “Can I have that?” Before I leave for the theater, I get on the Citi Bike app to see where an electric bicycle is available. They are easy and fast. The dog goes in a backpack. She weighs 15 kilos, which is quite heavy.
ARRIVALS At the theater, I pass the stage doorman, sign in at the bell board and walk to the fourth floor where my dressing room is while Kinley says hello to everyone and goes looking for food. In my dressing room I have a diffuser, which I spritz with lavender, lemon sage, or chamomile scented oil, and a record player. We have a collection at home and I took about ten of them to the theater. The Bee Gees and Air Supply pump me up; I like power ballads. When I try to come down, Bob Marley calms me down, which I listen to during the break. I drink coffee, brush my teeth and do voice warm-ups.
TO CONNECT At half past two I am sitting in the wig chair in the basement. I have to go up and down five flights a few times before the show starts. It’s hard on the glutes, but I enjoy meeting the cast before the show. There’s something about connecting as a human being before you connect as a character.
FIRST ACT I chat backstage with Taran Killam, who plays Sir Lancelot, as we wait for the show to start. During the overture I vocalize when the microphone is not on. Precision in the first scene is important. Then it’s non-stop huge production numbers and costume changes. By the time we gallop into the mocking scene of France, none of us can believe that we are nearing the end of the first act.
PAUSE I’m sweaty. I try to calm down. I drink a lot of water. I go on my phone. Fred, my wig stylist, comes in and checks me out.
SECOND ACT I have a big song, “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway,” that has a lot of words, and if you mess it up it could derail the whole thing. I’m nervous about that, so I go over every word backstage, which might be a superstition of mine now.
Goodbye greetings The bows take place around 5:15 p.m. The cheering is electrifying. This also applies to singing along. We look at the audience, sing along with them and enjoy each other. After I change in my dressing room, I pick up guests. I show them backstage, take pictures and look at them. I pick up the dog and greet the people waiting for me to sign posters and posters. It’s a lot of young people, many who grew up watching “Ugly Betty.” It’s very moving.
DINNER AND DRINKS I leave Times Square – sometimes by taking a taxi, sometimes by bike. I’m pretty wired, so it’s nice to breathe and get my heart rate up one more time. I don’t like eating after a night show, so Sunday is the only night we can eat with Ryan. We like New Cottage, which has great spicy scallion pancakes and noodle soup, Playa Betty’s and the Owl’s Tail, a cocktail bar. I get the text She’s a Scorpio. Ryan gets the Dracarys. When we’re feeling frisky, we get Espresso Guinness Martinis.
TV TIME We watch TV from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM. At first it’s background noise as we catch up. When we’re ready to look, it takes a while before we agree on anything. Ryan loves horror movies; I like superheroes. Common ground: we can make a documentary about a murder. We’re watching a cool Korean show called “Bargain,” which is about a crazy earthquake and all these people surviving in this one building. We also love the beautiful costumes and seeing our friends who are in “The Gilded Age.”
HOT DOG IN BED One of us takes one last walk with Kinley, then we go to bed. I could read; I just started reading “Less is Lost” by Andrew Sean Greer, which is hard when I’m exhausted because it puts me to sleep immediately. Kinley chooses her father as she crawls under the covers. The colder it is, the more we fight over her. She’s like a hot water bottle dog. Then we’ll all sit in it.