Glee Star Darren Criss Confirmed to Succeed Daniel Radcliffe on Broadway
Big news for Glee fans: Breakout star Darren Criss will get a three-week run as J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying after Daniel Radcliffe departs the smash-hit revival on January 1, 2012, a production spokesperson confirmed to Broadway.com. Criss, who plays Chris Colfer's boyfriend Blaine on Glee, will make his Broadway debut on January 3 and continue through January 22. The actor was recently upped to become a regular cast member in the third season of the hit series. His Broadway stint coincides with the show's hiatus.
Ironically, Criss first achieved Internet fame playing the boy wizard in A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel. A co-founder of StarKid productions, he demonstrated his affinity for musical theater in homemade videos of himself singing "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast and "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. Criss' cover of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" in his first Glee episode debuted at #1 on Billboard for the first time in the show's history, selling more than 200,000 tracks in its first week.
“Daniel gives an extraordinary performance eight times a week and we knew finding someone to fill his shoes would be nearly impossible, director/choreographer Rob Ashford said in a statement. "When we learned of Darren’s dream of performing on Broadway we knew we had found our Finch but presumed his Glee schedule would eliminate any chance to work with him. We are ecstatic and grateful to Ryan Murphy and his Glee team at 20th Century Fox TV for helping to make both Darren’s and our dream come true.”
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opened on March 27 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre and scored eight Tony nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical. In addition to Radcliffe, the production currently stars Tony winner John Larroquette as J.B. Biggley, Rose Hemingway as Rosemary Pilkington, Tammy Blanchard as Hedy La Rue, Mary Faber as Smitty and Christopher J. Hanke as Bud Frump.
