Darren Criss

Since bursting onto the pop-culture landscape over a decade ago, Darren Criss has made his unique mark in the entertainment industry - across stage and screen, for music and acting.

Darren exploded into the internet’s subculture as both an actor and songwriter for the YouTube viral hit A Very Potter Musical in 2009 and in 2010 went on to become a fan favorite on FOX’s massively successful musical series Glee as Blaine Anderson. He worked again with Ryan Murphy in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. Criss' portrayal of spree killer Andrew Cunanan received acclaim from critics, and earned him an Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries, or Television Film.

He starred on Broadway in multiple shows, including his debut in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as J. Pierrepont Finch and most recently in David Mamet’s American Buffalo alongside Laurence Fishburne and Sam Rockwell.

Since starring in his breakout role as Blaine Anderson on TV’s Glee, Criss has since gone on to star on the screen, stage, and beyond. This year alone has seen him in the spotlight for many live performances- at America's biggest birthday party “A Capitol Fourth” on PBS, opening for the Grammy winning cappella group Pentatonix at the Hollywood Bowl in late September, and mostly recently for a very special holiday performance at State Farm Park in iHeartLand. He also starred in American Buffalo on Broadway alongside Tony Award winner Laurence Fishburne and Academy Award winner Sam Rockwell, and co-hosted the 2022 Tony Awards: Act One with Julianne Hough.

Criss has continued to write and produce music extensively through the years, whether for his own releases as an artist or as a songwriter for theater, film & television. In 2015, his songwriting landed an Emmy nomination for Best Original Music and Lyrics, from penning the song “This Time” for Glee’s series finale. In 2019, he created, executive produced, starred in, and provided all the original songs for his short-form musical comedy series Royalties, and earlier this year provided the music & lyrics for the opening number of the 2022 Tony Awards: Act One. As an artist, he most recently delivered a genre-diverse collection of "character-driven" singles as part of his 2021 solo EP titled “Masquerade” (BMG) , and in the same year, released a full-length Christmas album titled- aptly- A Very Darren Crissmas (Decca).

Making his Broadway debut in 2012, Darren replaced Daniel Radcliffe in the role of J. Pierrepont Finch in the revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In 2015, he took on the role of Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch replacing Neil Patrick Harris, and also headlined its national tour. He is a co-founder of Elsie Fest, touted as New York City’s first outdoor music festival celebrating tunes from the stage and screen.