Ugly Betty's Michael Urie to Star in Off-Broadway's The Tempermentals

Pretty TV face Michael Urie of ABC’s Ugly Betty will make his way to the off-Broadway stage, according to The New York Times. Urie will lead the cast of the Jon Marans play The Tempermentals, which begins performances April 30 at the Barrow Group Studio Theater. The limited engagement, directed by Jonathan Silverstein, opens May 4 and will run through May 18.

"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. The new play tells the story of two men, communist Harry Hay and young Viennese refugee and designer Rudi Gernreich, weaving together the personal and the political to tell a relatively unknown chapter in gay history. The show explores the deepening relationship between the two as they build the first gay rights organization in the United States. The play’s characters consist of the actual men who founded the Mattachine Society, as well as prominent figures of the time such as Frank Tavener of the House Un-American Committee and the director Vincente Minnelli.

Urie is best known to audiences as Marc St. James on the hit series Ugly Betty. Additional screen credits include Beverly Hills Chihuahua, WTC View, Kat Plus One and Undressed. A graduate of Juilliard, the actor recently appeared in Los Angeles’ Hayworth Theatre’s one-night-only staging of Howard Ashman’s Dreamstuff, playing opposite Eden Espinosa, Fred Willard and David Blue.

The Tempermentals will feature sets and costumes by Clint Ramos, lighting by Josh Bradford and sound design by Daniel Kluger. Complete casting for the show will be announced at another time.