Michael Urie on Why You Need to Watch the Classics With Him

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When it comes to classic cinema -- the campier, the better.
Or, in some cases, it’s just about having enough cocktails to make them fun!

On Logo’s Cocktails
and Classics
, actor and host Michael Urie combines the two for a throwback
viewing experience akin to Mystery
Science Theater 3000
, but for a gay audience. Urie and his panel of guests
share never-before-heard stories, tons of dish, and plenty of sass to
make you the king (or queen) of trivia night. Of course, the booze is
free-flowing, helping the conversation along.

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But, for Urie, it’s also catching up a younger generation of
viewers who haven’t necessarily watched all of the classics. “If you’ve seen it,
we all need to watch it together, and if you haven’t, you need to watch it and I
need to watch you watch it,” he tells ETonline. “That’s how we picked the
movies. It’s like, you either have to watch All
About Eve
or I take away your gay card.”

“We’re doing you a service,” he adds.

Ultimately, the guzzle-and-gab creates a shared community
for fans of these movies. “I grew up in Texas and I had this best friend and we
watched movies together,” the Ugly Betty
star explains. “It wasn’t until I moved to New York as an adult that I realized
that I wasn't the only one obsessed with these movies. There’s something special
about that. What are the odds that flop became a cult classic within the gay
community?”

When asked about the movies that all fans must watch, for
Urie, it all starts with the disaster flicks. “The Poseidon Adventure and The
Towering Inferno
-- those two disaster movies were really big for me,” he
says before touching on a list of other staples, including Big Business, Soapdish, Steel Magnolias, The First Wives Club, Valley
of the Dolls
, and Mommie Dearest.

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On Sunday, Urie and his guests -- RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Shangela, comic actor (and Chloe
Sevigny impersonator
) Drew Droege, and SiriusXM’s Jessica Shaw -- will gather
together for a screening of Funny Girl.
Joining them will be Omar Sharif, Jr., the grandson of Omar Sharif, who starred
opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1968 musical.

In an exclusive clip from the show, Sharif, Jr. opens up
about watching his late grandfather’s film. “From the age of five to 15, I must have seen the movie 100 times,” he says, revealing his mother would play
it for him after his parents got divorced. “He’s so much in real life like he
is in the film.”

“There’s no doubt I was going to be gay after watching this
one,” Sharif, Jr. quips over pillow talk with Urie. 

Watch Funny Girl
and more classics on Sunday starting at 8 p.m. only on Logo.