BUYER & CELLAR with Michael Urie Coming to Sidney Harman Hall, 6/20-29

The Shakespeare Theatre Company will present a special engagement of Buyer & Cellar. Written by Jonathan Tolins, directed by Stephen Brackett and starring Michael Urie, Buyer & Cellar was heralded by The New York Times as "a seriously funny and remarkably sustained slice of absurdist whimsy." Washington, D.C. marks the second stop of the production's national tour, where it will play at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW), from June 20-29, 2014.

Buyer & Cellar stars Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) in the award-winning role he originated in the hit Off-Broadway production. Urie finds himself taking on numerous personalities as he relates the story of Alex More, a struggling (and recently fired) L.A. actor, who takes on a job working in the Malibu basement of Hollywood mega-star Barbra Streisand. When the A-lister makes a rare appearance one day, the comedy launches into an outrageous yet touching look at fame and the price that accompanies it.

The production marks Michael Urie's first return to D.C. theatre since he appeared at the Folger Theatre in 2005. Juilliard-trained-and once a pupil of STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn-Urie has gone on to appear in Broadway's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, as well as with the Classic Stage Company, Seattle Rep and in numerous TV and film roles. Urie's performance in Buyer & Cellar has been praised as "a tour de force" (ShowBizChicago), "sheer magic" (Around the Town Chicago), and the Huffington Post says, "Urie's delivery...is a masterclass in pacing, timing and comedic delivery." He was awarded the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, and the production most recently won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show.

Buyer & Cellar premiered in April 2013 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, where it received rave reviews and played a sold-out, extended run before transferring to the Off-Broadway Barrow Street Theatre in June 2013. The Chicago launch of the national tour last month has continued to garner attention, with the production hailed as "laugh-out-loud fun" (Chicago Tribune), "wickedly funny" and "too good to pass up" (Chicago Sun Times).

Buyer & Cellar will run from June 20-29, 2014, at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW). Press night for the production will be Friday, June 20, at 8 pm.

To purchase tickets or to learn more, patrons can call the box office at 202.547.1122 or visit ShakespeareTheatre.org.

Michael Urie originated the role of Alex More in Buyer & Cellar at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. In the role, Urie received the Drama Desk Award, Clarence Derwent Award and nominations for the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle awards. New York theatre credits include How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Broadway), The Cherry Orchard (Classic Stage Company), Angels in America (Signature), The Temperamentals (Barrow Group Studio Theater--Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk and Theatre World awards, Drama League nomination), The Revenger's Tragedy (Red Bull) and Another Vermeer (HB Playwrights). Regionally, Urie has worked for The Old Globe, Vineyard Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep, Folger Theatre, Barrington Stage, Hyde Park (Austin) and The Blank (L.A.). Urie's film credits include He's Way More Famous Than You (also directed), Thank You for Judging (co-Director/Executive Producer), Beverly Hills Chihuahua, WTC View, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, The Decoy Bride, Petunia, The Hyperglot (Director), Grantham & Rose (Executive Producer) and the upcoming Such Good People. His television credits include Hot in Cleveland, Partners and Marc St. James on Ugly Betty. Urie was trained at the Juilliard School where he was a recipient of the John Houseman prize for excellence in classical theatre and the Laura Pels Award for a career in theatre.

Stephen Brackett's credits include Jonathan Tolins' Buyer & Cellar (Rattlestick), Dan Fishback's The Material World (Dixon Place), Micheline Auger's American River (Lesser America), Bekah Brunstetter's Nothing is the End of the World (Except for the End of the World) (Waterfall), Chad Beckim's After (Partial Comfort), Brunstetter's Be a Good Little Widow (Ars Nova), The Tenant (Woodshed Collective), David Mixner's From the Front Porch (Dixon Place), Nick Jones and Rachel Shukert's The Sporting Life (Studio 42), Rick Viede's Whore (Summer Play Festival) and Bixby Elliot's PN1923.45 LS01 Volume 2 (Culture Project). Regional credits include The Trouble With Doug at TheatreWorks and Kilroy Was Here: A Styx Rock Opera at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Brackett is a company member of Lesser America and Partial Comfort and an alumnus of the Soho Rep Lab.

Jonathan Tolins is the author of Buyer & Cellar, which was named Best Unique Theatrical Experience by the Off-Broadway Alliance when it premiered at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Other plays include The Twilight of the Golds (Broadway, Booth Theatre), If Memory Serves (Promenade), The Last Sunday in June (Rattlestick, Century Center) and Secrets of the Trade (Primary Stages). A collection of his plays has been published by Grove/Atlantic. His film work includes The Twilight of the Golds and Martian Child. For television, he was a writer for Queer as Folk, The Academy Awards, The Tony Awards and Partners. He was the author of Pushkin 200: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall, acted as script consultant on Walking with Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular, and co-wrote The Divine Millennium Tour and The Showgirl Must Go On for Bette Midler. He has written articles for Opera News, Opera Monthly, TheaterWeek, Time magazine and The Huffington Post, and is a panelist on the Metropolitan Opera Radio Quiz. He lives in Fairfield, Connecticut with his husband, the writer and director Robert Cary, and their children, Selina and Henry. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Writers Guild of America.

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