Out actor Michael Urie will headline
the revival of Harvey Fierstein's 1981 play Torch Song Trilogy.
Fierstein wrote and originally starred
in the three act play about a drag queen looking for love and family
in New York City.
The show has been trimmed down to two
acts and renamed Torch Song.
“This play was written by someone who
I'm not anymore,” Fierstein
told gay glossy OUT, “so I can edit for clarity and I can edit
for time. But I'd never rewrite.”
Urie, who is best known for playing
Marcus “Marc” St. James on the ABC dramedy Ugly Betty and
a spin-off webseries Made After Hours, called playing Arnold,
the show's protagonist, a rare opportunity.
“It's so rare to have a gay character
at the center of a play who's funny, heartbroken, strong, and the one
with the problem,” Urie said. “But Arnold's problem isn't that
he's gay – it's that he's in love. Like any other person. There's
a purity to it.”
Fierstein said that his update was
“totally different” and “no different.”
On a personal note, Urie explained why
he and his boyfriend of nearly 9 year have not married. “We're
happy [marriage equality] exists,” he said. “But we never really
imagined it until it was a possibility, so we had no plan – no
dream about marriage. Even now, anytime we talk about it, it becomes
about other people [and their expectations]. And we wouldn't do it
for anybody else – we'd do it for ourselves.”
Torch Song opens October 19 at
Manhattan's Second Stage.