Darren Criss on How 'Life Imitates Art' on His First Night in How to Succeed

Glee heartthrob Darren Criss officially made his Broadway debut on January 3 as How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’s J. Pierrepont Finch and Broadway.com headed to the Al Hirschfeld Theatre to chat with the handsome star.

“It’s so surreal,” Criss told Broadway.com after the curtain call. “My life continues to be packed with these very surreal moments, it’s so overwhelming. Broadway, man! It’s crazy! I come from the theater, so it’s good to be home.”

Criss is quickly learning the ropes of Broadway, as he had only two weeks of rehearsal before jumping into the production. Luckily he has some help from his onstage counterpart, J. Pierrepont Finch. “The key thing about this role is that Finch is kind of figuring out [the business world] as he goes along, so there are a lot of similarities between him and me. If the ball is dropped and it looks like 'Darren the actor' is trying to figure stuff out, I can just pretend that it’s actually Finch. Life imitates art a little bit.”

Despite his demanding schedule Criss isn’t overly stressed about his first Broadway outing. “We had two week of rehearsal, that’s kind of a luxury considering we usually only have two hours to rehearse something on Glee.”

Criss’ fans flocked to the Hirschfeld for his first sold-out performance and the actor was thrilled to see some familiar faces in the crowd. “There are a lot of people who have been supporters [of mine] since I was a nobody,” he said, “A lot of them were there tonight. I really did appreciate hearing and seeing them."

Criss ends his limited run on January 22, so will we see him back on the Great White Way in the future? “From your mouth, to God’s ear. It would be great!”