Photo: Ian Johnston
Darren Criss Takes Town Hall
by Steve Desroches
Great works of art often have an aspect of prophecy to them even if it was never the intention to do so. The hit Broadway musical Maybe Happy Ending began when South Korean lyricist and writer Hue Park was sitting in a coffee shop in Brooklyn in 2014 when the Damon Albarn song “Everyday Robots” came on. It led Park to imagine a futuristic world where humanoid robots programmed with human emotions are discarded by their owners and left to themselves in the world. The musical opened and received critical acclaim in Seoul in 2016 and then landed on Broadway in 2024, with powerhouse performer Darren Criss portraying the male lead role of Oliver opposite Helen J. Shen as Claire, two robots who fall in “love,” or at least a programmed version of it. Maybe Happy Ending went on to garner 10 Tony Award nominations, winning six, including Best Musical and Best Actor for Criss. It also struck a cultural nerve in this age of AI and automation, an era where a human-created technology presents unprecedented opportunities and challenges to civilization. Criss notes that when Maybe Happy Ending was conceived, only the biggest fans of science fiction or computer science students might have even been thinking of AI, but nevertheless Maybe Happy Ending became part of a larger cultural conversation.
“Well, there is a lot to unpack in this answer,” says Criss about bring humanity to a character that isn’t human. “All of the characters I’ve played aren’t real. They’re all made up. Stories are stories. What’s great about storytelling is that you have this journey you go on. Humans have been telling stories for thousands and thousands of years. We find ourselves in stories even if they aren’t about humans.”
After all, Dorothy befriended a scarecrow, tin man, and a lion in Oz in one of the most beloved stories of all time. Criss left the Belasco Theatre production of Maybe Happy Ending this past May and is currently doing select concerts around the country, including a stop this Friday night at Provincetown Town Hall in a show produced by Jack Kelly, Paul Melanson, and Kristiyan Aleksiev, the guys from Tin Pan Alley and the Post Office Café and Cabaret. At almost 40, Criss has distinguished himself as a versatile actor and musician who brings a warmth, charisma, and most of all, empathy and compassion to the roles he’s played, be it on the hit television series Glee, NBC’s special presentation of Hairspray Live!, or even as spree killer Andrew Cunanan in Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, for which he won an Emmy Award. But he is, of course, best known as a song and dance man of the theater and a superstar of Broadway, a creative community he adores, but recognizes for being confronted with some substantial challenges. About a week ago news broke that the production of Cats: The Jellicle Ball would be closing early despite Tony Award wins and critical acclaim, as it wasn’t financially sustainable, prompting Andrew Lloyd Webber to call out Broadway for operating on a broken economic model. Criss dealt with a similar issue as he was also a producer on Maybe Happy Ending, which almost closed early as well until they were able to raise more money and make it to the Christmas season, Broadway’s most lucrative time.
“He’s not wrong,” says Criss about Webber’s remarks. “It’s no secret that Broadway musicals are too expensive, especially since the pandemic. Some of the things the theaters can’t control. And we’re in a difficult spending economy. People aren’t going out and buying seats. It’s a difficult economy. There’s no one acting in a nefarious manner, though. And I actually don’t have the answer as to how to fix it, but I know it can be done. Broadway has one foot in the old world and that has its benefits. But it has to adapt for the future.”
And that’s what Criss has his sights set on, the future. As of right now that includes preparing for Provincetown. He made his debut here in 2024 and says that he approached Kelly, Alexsiev, and Melanson to come back because he loved it so much. While Criss is straight, he’s been celebrated for thoughtful performances of gay characters as well as his role in LGBTQ culture at large. He says with sincerity that he’s always felt at home in the queer community, especially within the theater world, as the contributions of LGBTQ people are immense, and that an appreciation for those accomplishments transcends sexual and gender identity. He says he saw a t-shirt recently that said “Sounds Gay. I’m In.” And that’s been his credo for a long time. Chatting about Broadway history, and in particular how Mama Rose in Gypsy is considered the Hamlet for women, as all the greats play the role, he ponders what is the one role that he as an actor in musical theater longs to play?
“For me it was Hedwig, and I got it,” says Criss about his performance in the 2016 national tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. “I’m always looking for something new, though. The next role I want probably hasn’t been written yet. I couldn’t have fathomed Oliver in Maybe Happy Ending. That’s the dream. The new next big role.”
Darren Criss performs at Provincetown Town Hall, 260 Commercial St., on Friday, July 24 at 7 p.m. Tickets ($75-$135) are available at the Post Office Cabaret box office and online at postofficecafe.net. For more information call 508.487.0008.
