Darren Criss Plays Final HEDWIG Performance Today; Taye Diggs to Step in Next

Darren Criss will conclude his limited 12-week engagement in Broadway's HEDIWG AND THE ANGRY INCH, the Tony Award winning Best Musical Revival, today, July 19. He started performances on April 29 at the Belasco Theatre.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Taye Diggs will take over the role starting Wednesday, July 22, making his return to Broadway after a decade-long hiatus. Diggs will also play the title role in the acclaimed musical for a limited 12-week engagement.

Hedwig will mark Diggs' first New York stage role since the 2005 revival of A Soldier's Play. This summer, he has been in production for the second season of Steven Bochco's crime drama "Murder in the First," which will premiere Monday, June 8 on TNT.

He made his Broadway debut in 1994 in the Tony Award-winning revival of Carousel. Soon after, he landed the role of Benny in in the landmark musicalRent, a role he recreated in the 2005 film version. Diggs other New York stage credits include Chicago, Wicked, and Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party. His many film and television credits include How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Go, Chicago,The Best Man, its follow up The Best Man Holiday, and six seasons on ABC's hit drama "Private Practice."

Hedwig and the Angry Inch, with book by John Cameron Mitchell and music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, directed by Michael Mayer, also stars Rebecca Naomi Jones as Yitzhak. The production has received rave reviews and is winner of four 2014 Tony Awards and won Best Musical Revival by the Tony Awards, the Drama Desk Awards, Drama League Awards, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. The Grammy nominated Original Broadway Cast album for Hedwig and the Angry Inch is available from Atlantic Records.

"Internationally ignored song stylist" Hedwig Robinson (Taye Diggs) brings her fourth-wall-smashing rock and roll saga to New York to set the record straight about her life, her loves, and the botched operation that left her with that "angry inch."

Hedwig has inspired a generation of young theatre writers and audiences. This wickedly funny and heartbreaking show was called "the Best Rock Musical Ever" by Rolling Stone and "the most exciting rock score written for the theatre since, oh, ever," by Time Magazine.

The creative team for Hedwig and the Angry Inch features Emmy Award nominee Spencer Liff (musical staging), Tony Award nominee and Drama Desk Award winner Julian Crouch (scenic design), Tony Award and two-time Oscar nominee Arianne Phillips(costume design), four-time Tony Award winner Kevin Adams (lighting design), Mike Potter (hair and makeup design), Tony Award nominee and platinum-selling record producer Tim O'Heir (sound design), Benjamin Pearcy for 59 Productions (projection design), John Bair/Phosphene (animation), James Calleri (casting), Tony and Grammy Award nominee Ethan Popp (music supervisor & music coordinator), Justin Craig (music director), Liz Caplan (vocal supervision), Stephen Gabis (dialect coach), andJohanna McKeon (associate director).

TAYE DIGGS (Hedwig). An established star of film, television, and theatre, Taye Diggs made his feature film debut starring opposite Angela Bassett in the box office hit How Stella Got Her Groove Back.

Diggs is currently in production on the second season of "Murder in the First," in which he stars alongside Kathleen Robertson. The second season will premiere on TNT on Monday, June 8. This past fall, Diggs also appeared in a guest story arc on CBS' "The Good Wife." Recently, Diggs completed production on the musical comedy One Shot, alongside Topher Grace. The film is about a failed star turned stage manager (Grace) who must wrangle the eccentric cast and crew of a new production to save the show's opening night. Diggs will play the role of Malcolm.

In 2013, Diggs appeared in The Best Man Holiday, a follow up to the 1999 film The Best Man, which centered on a writer whose recent autobiography put him at odds with being the best man at his friend's wedding. He reprised his role as Harper Stewart, and starred opposite Terrance Howard, Harold Perrineau, Morris Chestnut and Nia Long. The film was released in theaters on November 15, 2013 and sold approximately $30.6 million in tickets during its opening weekend. That same year, Diggs also appeared in Baggage Claim, a comedy about a flight attendant determined to get engaged before her youngest sister's wedding with only 30 days to find Mr. Right. The film was released in theaters on September 27, 2013.

In January 2013, Diggs wrapped production after a six-season run on the ABC series, "Private Practice," in which he plays the role of Dr. Sam Bennett. Diggs led a stellar ensemble cast including Kate Walsh, Tim Daly, Audra McDonald, and Amy Brenneman. In 2009, he was honored for his role with the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 40th Annual NAACP Image Awards.

In 2011, Diggs' first children's book entitled Chocolate Me was published by Feiwell and Friends. The book, which tells the story of a relentlessly teased child who learns to appreciate what sets him apart from his neighbors, is illustrated by Diggs' longtime friend Shane Evans.

In 2006, Diggs starred in the ABC drama "Daybreak," which aired in November of that year. He also served as a producer on the project. In 2005, Taye appeared in the feature film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Rent. Diggs, who was part of the original Broadway cast, joined Idina Menzel, Rosario Dawson, Jesse Martin, Anthony Rapp, and Adam Pascal on screen. The same year, Diggs received stellar reviews for his portrayal of Captain Davenport in the Second Stage Theatre production of A Soldier's Play in New York. His performance earned a nomination for Distinguished Performance from the Drama League Awards. Also in 2005, Diggs starred in his television series debut in "Kevin Hill" on UPN. Diggs, who also served as a producer on the show, received the NAACP Image Award in the category Best Actor-Television for the role. Diggs has created memorable characters in multiple guest appearances on hit television shows including "Ally McBeal" "Will & Grace," "Ed," "The West Wing," "New York Undercover," and "Law & Order."

In 2002, Diggs returned to his musical theater roots in the Academy Award winning film Chicago, directed by Rob Marshall and starring Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta Jones. The cast was honored with a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble Performance. He also starred in Brown Sugar, opposite Sanaa Lathan, Queen Latifah and Mos Def as well as the futuristic thriller Equilibrium. The following year, he starred in John McTiernan's military thriller Basic, opposite Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta.

In 2000, Diggs appeared in The Way of the Gun opposite Benicio Del Toro and James Caan. 1999 was a prolific year for Diggs, starring in The Wood for director Rick Famuyiwa, as well as the romantic comedy, The Best Man, co-starring Nia Long and Morris Chestnut. His performance garnered him a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture. Other film roles include Just a Kiss, co-starring Marisa Tomei and Kyra Sedgwick, The House on Haunted Hill, Go, directed by Doug Liman and also starring Katie Holmes and Timothy Olyphant, Drum, Cake, and Malibu's Most Wanted.

Diggs appeared on Broadway from late 2003 to early 2004 filling in for Norbert Leo Butz in the role of Fiyero in the Tony Award-nominated musical Wicked, and he has also appeared as Billy Flynn in the hugely popular musical Chicago. Previously, he starred in the Manhattan Theatre Club's The Wild Party which was the winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. Diggs' musical talents were first recognized in Broadway's critically acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winning play Rent, with his role as Benny the landlord. His first job out of college, in 1994, was a coveted role in the ensemble cast of the five-time Tony Award winning musical Carousel.

Born in New Jersey, Diggs grew up in Rochester, New York, attending High School of the Arts. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University, where he studied theatre, and was discovered by an agent while performing in a showcase during his senior year in college. Diggs resides in New York with his son Walker.

Darren Criss -- musician, composer and actor -- just wrapped his run as 'Blaine Anderson' on Fox's Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning series GLEE. He made his Broadway debut in January of 2012 as J. Pierrepont Finch in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING. With Criss at the helm, the revival made just over $4 million, which proved to be the most lucrative three weeks of its 11-month run.

Prior to his rise to stardom, the San Francisco-native pursued a BFA in Acting at the University of Michigan. In his senior year, he and his friends created what would become the viral YouTube hit, A VERY POTTER MUSICAL. With that same group, Criss and his writing partners founded the now Chicago-based theater company, StarKid Productions, whose works have spurred multiple Billboard charting cast albums, and sold-out national tours. Their original show, STARSHIP debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Cast Album, for which Criss composed and penned the lyrics. His additional film, TV and stage credits include GIRL MOST LIKELY opposite Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening, THE WIND RISES with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, WEB THERAPY, ABC's BACKSTAGE WITH DISNEY ON BROADWA,Michael Feinstein's New Year's Eve Special on PBS as well as hosting duties for the NewNowNext Awards and Teen Choice Awards. He also opened, along with the Warblers for the Barbra Streisand MusiCares tribute.