Darren Criss in Hedwig — Page 5

I was there tonight too, and it was better than I expected. His accent needs work (badly) and he's probably going to break a leg over the mic cord at some point if he doesn't get it together soon but other than that he wasn't as terrible as I thought he would be. Like the person above said, some parts he was actually really good. Rebecca's voice is just so amazing but something about her in the part is off, but I loved Lena so it cause just be me being biased.

Updated On: 4/30/15 at 02:12 AM

Sondehmite, your opinion isn't so witty and great that you needed to post it both here and on tumblr verbatim.

I was there tonight. Darren did better than expected and sounded good. Still getting his footing in some areas but I think he'll settle into the role as time goes on.

Updated On: 4/30/15 at 03:16 AM

"I was there tonight, and enjoyed more than I thought I would. Having seen JCM's last show on Sunday night, the standards for tonight were set pretty low. Darren's voice was fine, he did a lot of different things with the music none of the other Hedwig's did. His acting was my problem: I didn't feel like he had the comic acting down. The last 10 minutes (Hedwig's Lament to end) were his shining moments, but some of the jokes didn't land as well as they did with other Hedwigs. He would stretch out the delivery and lose the laughs, if that makes any sense? His mic work was rough during Tear Me Down, but it improved throughout. With John Cameron Mitchell I saw HEDWIG, tonight I saw Darren Criss in drag sing songs and try to use an accent (it needs work). "

Can you expand on how the music has changed? I heard from someone else that they've significantly changed the songs for him, and I want to know just how different it is before I drop money on a ticket.

Did they revert back to the libretto that had bits with the house right box and Belasco's ghost?

The bits about Belasco's ghost are cut. The bit where Hedwig rehearses with the drummer to get his timing right is gone (the drummer comes in late one time, but the gag of trying it over and over again until they sync up is not restored).

I don't think they're "significantly" changed the songs for him. His vocal stylings are different than his predecessors though. His best vocal performance (and acting performance) was when he became Tommy Gnosis. He felt much more at ease playing the pop star than the underappreciated Hedwig.

Edit: the grindr stuff was gone, but Criss did intereact with the audience a bit when he asked whether we liked his hair. He seemed to take a few answers from the audience, but his forte is never going to be working the crowd like JCM did.

Updated On: 4/30/15 at 08:54 AM

Whizzer, so he's best in the last 15 minutes where he has no lines?

How is he in the Hedwig/Tommy conversation that ends with love the front of me?

Are there recordings of him singing? I would love to hear them.

My sister went last night and said he was absolutely amazing but she is also a diehard Darren Criss fan girl/Gleek.

I saw NPH and JCM in the roles and I loved them both for different reasons. I am planning on seeing Darren but I am not sure what to expect.

Also, he could still be just as bad as people predicted to those people because everyone's opinions are different. so technically they could still be right. Everyone's impression of good and bad is different. What one thinks is good, others could find great or bad.

"^ Although, it's also not fair to just automatically assume he'll be bad and go in expecting to see a bad performance, because then you subconsciously spend the entire time looking for things about the performance to hate instead of finding something to enjoy.


Now, listening to audios from last night, it's true that it sounds like his accent needs work. A lot of it. However, vocally he's already sounding better than his H2$ days. I think with a little time he'll grow into it."

True, But i would think it would be hard not to assume if a person will be bad or good in a role when you hear casting. I mean, when you hear a name and a role, you normally make some sort of judgment, based on the character and their previous work- at least I do.

Updated On: 4/30/15 at 10:30 AM

'"But i would think it would be hard not to assume if a person will be bad or good in a role when you hear casting. I mean, when you hear a name and a role, you normally make some sort of judgment, based on the character and their previous work- at least I do."

That's just human nature, when I hear anyone announced for a role I also make a judgement call if I think it's a good choice, but once the peformance is out there most people make their final judgement. I've been surprised both ways, some peformers who I deemed "ideal" fairly bombed and some who I thought were woefully miscast did surprisingly well.

So far from early comments here Darren hasn't got raves as in saying he's anywhere near the level of NPH , JCM, or the Hedwigs that preceded him. As the 5th Hedwig I think it's more if he can keep the box office going , ie bring a new crowd to the show.

"I may be way off base here, but I've skimmed a few interviews with Darren Kriss and he constantly refers to Hedwig as a b!tch. I've never thought of her that way. I've always found her endearing... Not without her flaws, of course. She's certainly not very kind to Yitzak. I feel like he just doesn't get the character. Maybe it's me. I didn't read the interviews too closely, but I can't imagine I'll go see him. "

to be fair, yitzhak calls hedwig a bitch in the intro. at least he did up until JCM's run.

I am wondering if it was his girlfriend.

I really can't judge that it was a woman. They have free reign to kiss/face hump whomever.

I listened to all of the recording earlier and I really like his Origin of Love.

His weakest for me was Wicked Little Town.