Arts & Entertainment
Michael Urie says ‘Ugly Betty’ cast is ready for a revival
Becki Newton and Vanessa Williams are also interested
Michael Urie (Screenshot via YouTube)
“Ugly Betty” could be the next show to get a reboot.
Michael Urie portrayed Marc St. James, the personal assistant of Mode magazine’s creative editor Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams), on the series. Vulture caught up with Urie at a “Torch Song” afterparty, the Broadway revival which Urie currently stars, and asked if the cast was ready to return.
“In a minute,” Urie says. “We all would. We loved each other so much and we loved it so much. We would absolutely do a revival and if you’re listening, ABC, please make it happen. You can make one of the characters a Trump supporter if [you] have to.”
According to Urie, the cast is still close since the series’ end in 2010.
“We’re in touch all the time. [There] was just a text chain yesterday with America [Ferrera] and everybody, with this baby dressed up like Ugly Betty in the Guadalajara poncho,” Urie says.
His fellow “Ugly Betty” co-stars Becki Newton and Williams were also at the event. They both echoed his interest in returning to the project to Vulture.
“Sure! Let’s see if it happens, but absolutely,” Williams said.
Newton, who portrayed Amanda Tanen, Mode magazine receptionist and Marc’s best friend, added: “Yes, period!”
She also gave some insight into what she thinks Amanda has been up to.
“Amanda is not doing anything different. Amanda is doing the exact same thing and I think that’s why I enjoy playing her so much. She felt like she was wildly unpredictable. But I feel like, from an audience’s point of view, we can plan on what Amanda would do and say. I don’t know, I feel like she’s still following everyone around and still at Mode magazine waiting for everyone to come back,” Newton said.
“Ugly Betty” was based on the telenovela “Yo soy Betty” and aired from 2006-2010. The dramedy followed nerdy Betty Suarez (Ferrara) who gets a job at fashion magazine Mode.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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