Darren Criss in Hedwig — Page 8

""It's an eye-rolling problem that extends beyond him…"

A lot of us have become more familiar with eye rolling since you joined… today."

Such flattery! I like you, too!

Cerveris. Never saw Hall.

Sorry to randomly pop in after years of not posting (I've been lurking though! As someone who's a big Broadway AND Darren fan, I do appreciate seeing opinions from regular theater goers who are coming at it primarily as fans of the show itself).

But after reading these last few pages I just couldn't hold off anymore on saying:

"The only reason Darren has had to say he's straight in a ton of interviews is because he played a gay teenager in Glee and so every single interviewer asked about his sexual orientation."

^THIS.

It baffles me when some people can't pick up (or maybe just refuse to) on the fact that it is virtually always the interviewers who hammer in the "he's straight! He's a straight guy playing gay!" thing.

I have watched a whole bunch of Darren interviews through the last few years, and the one and only time that I can think of where he even remotely might have come across as "playing up the straight" was the recent playbill interview where he mentioned checking out girls, and honestly, I don't think that if he did happen to be gay and said he checked out guys, that people would find anything wrong with that.

I've also never seen him actually refer to himself as a "gay/queer straight guy"... I know that he explained, right after he had first started on Glee, about his upbringing and the fact that he had a lot of queer cultural influence (which is true- he grew up doing theater in SF and hung out in The Castro, I mean really now), and again, I can think of exactly one video where the interviewer basically suggested he was quite a "queer straight guy" and he agreed, and that's it.

The point is: Darren himself very, very rarely ever brings up his sexuality OR being "a queer straight guy" on his own. Practically every time I have seen these arguments that he "won't stop mentioning how straight he is", it is very clearly the interviewer who brings up the question, and I have to wonder what people expect him to do... refuse to answer?

When he first came on Glee he explained that he wanted to make it known he was straight simply because he felt like it would leave him in a better position to be an ally than if he was unnecessarily evasive about it.

ANYWAY.

I was enjoying reading this thread when it was actually people giving their opinions on *gasp* his performance in the show and not trying to find reasons to make him out as some "frat boy douche". Any chance it could get back to that?

I for one love hearing him sing these beautiful songs :) I definitely got very attached to JCM's voice on them, so even for me as a big Darren fan it took some getting used to hearing Darren's versions, but after a few listens I can appreciate Darren's take on them vocally a lot.

The accent does need work, for sure, but in fairness I think JCM just makes it SEEM a lot easier than it probably is! So I'm sure he'll get there. I'm sure he'll grow in the role acting wise as well- I really can't imagine it's at all easy following up the brilliance that is JCM's Hedwig! Like... how can you even come close to that, especially in terms of his brilliant comedic timing and ability to play off the audience?

I don't know that I think he's right for the role, but I enjoyed the sound of him singing the songs, albeit in clips somewhat out of context. Before his GLEE fame, when he was just an indie YouTube guy with an acoustic EP, he had a very light, airy indie-pop voice. Glee tried really hard to make him into a louder, more forceful presence, but it looks like he's reverted to his natural stylings more in this show. Whether it works for the character or not, I don't know...

"Who cares if he's gay or straight? So what?
jeebus"

Seriously.

I'm definitely planning to wait til like late June early July to see Darren, give him so time to get into the groove of things.

super curious to see the grosses for this week, also super bummed they reverted back to matinees on saturdays and no late shows (whomp)

"Guys, chill. You all said you'd be cool today, so please."

Excellent comment! Points to you.

I've never seen Glee, and I had no idea who Darren Criss was until he was announced to be taking over for JCM. After JCM's last performance I was invited to go backstage with my bf and also to the after party. It was pretty crowded and Darren was getting a plate of food and we started chatting about his nail polish. He was very sweet (and tiny!) and my gaydar did not ping. At all. He was IMHO very nice and friendly. Even when I ran into him later on my way out he was cool, took my phone so he could take some selfies with me. Who cares if he's straight? So what. It's ACTING. I'm going to take my nephew to see him in the show next month. He's a big GLEE and Darren Criss fan.

Updated On: 5/2/15 at 01:06 PM

Getting back to the topic of this thread has anyone seen him after his opening and if so how was he?

Gay or straight, who doesn't love a good scrim job?

I saw Darren tonight in Hedwig. I thought he did a good job. The only other Hedwig I have seen was NPH. They both had their own styles and I did not get any sense that he was trying to imitate anyone but bring his own interpretation to the character (in a good way). The show was very enjoyable. A job very well done Darren!

In case anyone was wondering about stage door. By the time I left the theater there was a mob of people waiting at the stage door (mostly young girls).

Updated On: 5/2/15 at 10:28 PM

Well, this reviewer, plus a few people on the comment section, loved it. That's good to know... :)

http://www.thebacklot.com/review-darren-criss-takes-on-hedwig/05/2015/