Friday, February 15, 2008

Ugly Betty star, Michael Urie, returns to co-host Column Awards

By John Garcia of The Column

The second the curtain came down at last year's The Column Awards, one very important factor was clear to Executive Director/Producer and Founder of The Column Awards John Garcia -- and that was to bring Michael Urie back to Co-Host!

The Board of Directors and Mr. Garcia are very excited in announcing that Mr. Urie will return again this year to Co-host the The 9th Annual Column Awards. When Urie was reached for comment in Los Angeles on how he felt about returning to serve as Co-Host for the second year in a row, he replied, "SEXY!"

Garcia said, "If there was one comment that I heard throughout this whole year regarding The Column Awards was that we had to bring Urie back, which I wholeheartedly agree."

"Michael added so, so much hysterical laughter to that evening with his quick wit, wicked sense of humor, and charming disposition. Even the day after the gala when we had to take him to the airport, he stated several times how much fun he had with The Column Awards and really hoped to come back." Garcia went on, "I immediately said, 'Then it's a deal! This is your official invitation to come back! And he did!"

One thing that Garcia did promise to Urie was that he won't be "Ryan Seacrest" at the Gala and that the ceremony would NOT be in the round (a reference to this year's horrific mistake at the Emmy Awards, which was in the round).

Recently Urie served as the host of the new TLC reality show, Miss America Reality Check. The show was such a huge ratings hit, that for the first time in years, the Miss America pageant saw a big surge in ratings for last month's telecast of the pageant.

This past summer Urie portrayed the role of "Horatio" in the South Coast Repertory's staging of Hamlet.

While the writer's strike was going on, Urie did not let his talent go to waste. Instead he went back to the stage boards, currently performing in the critical smash Dickie and Babe (The Truth about Leopold and Loeb) at the Blank Theatre Company in Hollywood, CA.

Stage-check! TV-check! And now film-Urie will lend his voice to a new Disney film titled South of the Border. Urie's character in the film is named "Liberace the Pug."

Michael Urie is a New York-based actor whose work has taken him from his home in Dallas to Seattle, San Diego, Washington DC, Austin and the Berkshires. He has worked off- and off-off-Broadway, and in commercials and independent film.

The recipient of the 2002 John Houseman Prize for Excellence in Classical Theatre from the Julliard School, from which he holds an acting degree, Urie's classical credits include Shakespeare's Othello, Titus Andronicus, and A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Old Globe's Shakespeare Festival; Romeo & Juliet for DC's Folger Theatre; Love's Labour's Lost for The Judith Shakespeare Company; Jacobean drama (The Revenger's Tragedy for The Red Bull Theatre and The Roaring Girle at The Foundry); and comedia del arte (The King Stag at Seattle Rep). He appeared in the world premiere of LOVE AND HAPPINEES at Barrington Stage in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts.

His film work includes the star turn as Eric in WTC View, which premiered on LOGO in fall, 2006.

Urie was playing a bearded geologist and getting blown away nightly by Mt. St. Helens "volcanic explosion in the off-Broadway production of Phenomenon" when he was cast as Marc in Ugly Betty. Worlds away, in every sense of the word. As a producer/co-director, he is currently in postproduction on "Two Down," his documentary short focusing on high school speech and debate tournaments.

The Column Awards, now in its 9th year, honors excellence in theater within the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. This year over a 100 theater companies are deemed eligible, while over 300 productions are in consideration for this year's honors.

The Column Awards also serve as a major fundraiser for the national charity, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. The Column Awards Organization has now raised over $7,000.00 for BCEFA and is now part of their Angel Campaign.

The Column Awards is the ONLY organization in the United States that donates its proceeds (after operating costs) to BC/EFA (Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids).

To see a list of the nominees, click here.

Pegasus News content partner - The Column

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