VIDEO: HEDWIG's Taye Diggs Finds Broadway 'A Lot Less Concerned With Race'

Actor Taye Diggs stopped by HuffPost Live and talked about his new lead role in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" on Broadway. As the first African-American to play this role, Diggs weighed in on the opportunities for black actors in the theater industry. "One of the main things I'm bringing is darker skin... I'm going to bring a little chocolate to it," says the actor

Diggs comments, "In my opinion, Broadway is far more liberal and a lot less concerned with race. I think because there are a lesser amount of people going to the theater as opposed to moviegoers. So I think producers in theater have the luxury -- it's almost like an indie film -- of doing what they want because they don't have to worry about the mass audiences. And I think that theatergoers themselves are a little bit more liberal than your average moviegoer."

Watch the full HuffPost Live interview with Taye Diggs here.

Taye Diggs will return to Broadway this summer in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the 2014 Tony Award winning Best Musical Revival. Diggs will play the title role in the acclaimed musical for a limited 12-week engagement starting Wednesday, July 22 at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street). Hedwig will mark Diggs' first New York stage role since the 2005 revival of A Soldier's Play.

He is currently 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 ofCarousel. 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."

As previously announced Darren Criss will play his final performance as Hedwig on Sunday, July 19.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch, with book by John Cameron Mitchell and music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, directed byMichael 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 forHedwig and the Angry Inch is available from Atlantic Records.

Video courtesy of HuffPost Live