Darren Criss Talks Elsie Fest 2019 and Never Doing the Same Set List Twice

Emmy winner Darren Criss is once again bringing his fan-favorite Elsie Fest to New York City. For the fifth year in a row, audiences will be treated to a night of music from Broadway stars, composers and even the cast of the upcoming musical Jagged Little Pill. To celebrate the annual event happening on October 5, Criss stopped by Broadway.com's #LiveatFive to talk about what fans should expect, his dream duet and how he's "finagling" Broadway. "I can't believe we're at year five," Criss told Paul Wontorek. "The problem is, with full transparency, we’ve gotten too good at doing too much too last minute. Every year we say we're going to do things different, and we somehow manage to pull it together. This year is no exception, it's more Broadway-centric than ever before. Going into this, I had so many things I was juggling. I’m crazy and put myself into a lot of projects, but I'm in Elsie Fest for life."

What Criss loves most about the yearly concert is the bridging of genres that happen on stage. "Elsie Fest is an outdoor music festival that celebrates the songs, people and tradition of Broadway," he said. "We have people who have done Broadway and are now in pop music or film and television, but they have ties to Broadway. That's a huge cauldron of people. My dream is to have absurd acts that would never be on the same stage together. Like, Green Day and Barbra Streisand,because guess who has significant histories with Broadway? Green Day and Barbra motherf**king Streisand."

While Streisand isn't an Elsie Fest guest (yet), Tony winner Cynthia Erivo is. "Cynthia was a guest few years back and now she has her own headlining spot," Criss said. "She's a freak of nature and has been such a source of light and joy in my life. Every time I call her I'm like, 'I can't believe you picked up the phone.' I did a reading of The Greatest Showman back in the day, and that's where we met. I wasn't super aware of her yet and was like. 'Yo, who are you?' It's been love ever since."

One thing that constantly surprises people is how involved Criss is with the actual creation of Elsie Fest, which is a source of pride for the actor. "It's a huge compliment when people go, 'Oh, that's you?'" he said. "It means that the festival has outgrown me, which is always the goal. I have a lot of help making it all happen, but I am particular about how I curate things. The last thing I worry about is my own set list. I like to do thing I've never done before and my never do again. If you really know my concert history, I've never done the same set list twice. I'm doing some interesting things this year, I've never sung this much Broadway. Usually, I'm finagling pop music, but now I'm finagling Broadway."

To say Criss has had a busy year would be an understatement. He won several awards for his acclaimed portrayal of Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, is starring in the upcoming war movie Midway and was recently announced to appear in Ryan Murphy's Hollywood on top of planning the festival. When asked what it feels like to have gained so much recognition, Criss mentioned the danger that comes with winning awards: "They look pretty threatening when you walk into my house," he said. "The Emmy is a sharp, oblong object that if you trip, you're going to stab someone. One bad move and someone's eye is going out. It definitely has a sense of danger to it, which is fun."

When all is sung and done on October 5, Criss already knows exactly what he'll be doing. "It's so much work all week that I'll just need to sedate myself with really unhealthy pizza," he said. "I'm a pretty healthy guy, so that's the night I'll let my hair down and celebrate."

Get tickets to Elsie Fest 2019, happening on October 5!

Watch the full #LiveatFive episode below!