#Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter + Love

[d-criss-news]

How Sondheim and Burnett Got Darren Criss to Provincetown

Provincetown hasn’t been compared to The Godfather or Star Wars very often, but those are the examples actor and singer Darren Criss names in acknowledging that his July 21 town hall appearance will be his first visit here.

“Provincetown is like that movie that you haven’t seen but you don’t want your friends to know you haven’t seen, so you don’t incur their wrath and ridicule and disbelief,” he says, noting that several of his good pals visit often. “I don’t bring up that I haven’t been there because my friends will give me crap. I haven’t avoided it — I’ve really wanted to go. Finally, the stars aligned quite nicely.”

Maybe the stars had a little help from Carol Burnett.

Host and accompanist John McDaniel, a Grammy and Emmy award-winning musician, says he invited Criss to be part of his summer Broadway series here after Criss performed on 2023’s Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Love + Laughter TV birthday special. McDaniel was the music director.

Criss’s best-known roles are his breakout portrayal of Blaine for five seasons (2010 to 2015) on Glee in a milestone-for-mainstream-TV gay romance with Chris Colfer’s Kurt, and his 2018 Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning turn as spree killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. (Both roles came thanks to producer and Provincetown part-timer Ryan Murphy.)

In addition to acting and singing — including Glee’s “Teenage Dream” cover that climbed the Billboard charts — Criss is a songwriter. He first won notice for co-writing and starring in 2009’s A Very Potter Musical parody for the Chicago-based StarKid Productions, which he co-founded. Criss’s A Very Darren Crissmas generated national holiday tours.

Shortly after Criss wrote the opening number for the 2022 Tony Awards, his friend Paul Miller, director of the Burnett tribute, asked him to refashion Stephen Sondheim’s “Side by Side” from Company into an homage to Burnett’s famous duets with celebrity guest stars.

In what he called “one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to be a part of,” Criss performed “Burnett’s Duets” for the star-studded birthday-party special with Broadway’s Sutton Foster. That came after he meticulously dissected Sondheim’s music to fit new lyrics and fine-tuned the arrangement with McDaniel.

“When I was doing this,” Criss says, “in my mind, I was going, ‘What would the ghost of Sondheim be OK with?’ ”

More Broadway music will be on Criss’s mind in Provincetown for what he says will be an unusual program because it likely won’t include original work or him playing guitar or piano; McDaniel will accompany him. Criss prides himself on not performing the same live show twice and plans to include Broadway songs he’s not yet sung in public.

That said, he recognizes fans might want to hear something connected to his own Broadway star turns. Those include — besides the nonmusical American Buffalo in 2022 — How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 2012 and 2015’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Plus, earlier this year, Criss starred in off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors.

In September, he’ll originate a Broadway role for the first time, headlining Will Aronson and Hue Park’s musical Maybe Happy Ending. Criss plays an outdated, retired robot in futuristic Seoul who explores the nature of love with another retired robot (Helen J. Shen). To try to help boost its U.S. profile, Criss is also a producer of the musical, which has been a hit in Korea, China, and Japan. Its Broadway debut will be directed by Michael Arden (2023 Tony Award for Parade, Spring Awakening), a longtime Criss friend who directed the English-language debut in 2020 in Atlanta.

Criss is excited but nervous about the piece; he says it’s intimate and epic at once. “There’s an excitement about the uniqueness and specialness of this show that I’ve never encountered before,” he says. “So that’s either going to crash and burn and blow up in our faces or catch on. I don’t know, but the prospect is very thrilling.”

Criss, who is straight, made headlines this spring for comments at a Chicago expo about being “culturally queer” because of his admiration for the LGBTQ community. “The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from, and be inspired by are 100 percent queer,” he said then, later adding that “it was in queer communities that I’ve found people that I idolize, that I want to learn something from.”

“That had to be the slowest news day ever,” Criss says about his comments getting attention — especially because he’s talked many times before about similar things, including how much it meant to be part of Glee’s Blaine-Kurt relationship story.

Beyond Provincetown and Broadway, in August Criss’s voice will be heard in an unusual spot: on season 10 of Netflix’s Gabby’s Dollhouse, a children’s show, as the new Marty the Party Cat, magical host of the Party Room. It’s a voice role Criss says was planned long before his two-year-old daughter and seven-week-old son were born to him and his wife.

Marty is described by Netflix as a lovable, “exuberant goofball” who has a big heart and the ability to laugh at himself.

“He’s a fun guy,” Criss says. “I’m aspirationally Marty the Party Cat.”

[datshitrandom]

Darren Criss attends NBC’s “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love” Birthday Special | March 02, 2023 | via Crafted Fin's IG

[dopescissorscashwagon]

Carol Burnett & Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love, March 2,2023

[honeysucklepink]

This Carol Burnett special is so good! And Darren and Mia have prime seats with Jane Lynch and Sutton Foster, right behind Carol and Julie Andrews; you saw him every time the camera cut to them during Bernadette Peters and Kristen Chenoweth’s tribute.

[grilledcheeseandguavajelly]

Drink every time Charlize Theron takes her jacket off and puts it back on during the Carol Burnett birthday special 🥂✨

[crystalsword]

I was pleasantly surprised by how great the Carol Burnett birthday special was! Sometimes these star-studded performances can be taken over by unfunny attempts at comedy or by typical Hollywood narcissism, but the show was classy and had good comedic and musical entertainment. I really loved all the stories about Carol’s life and career, and the examples shown of her past and present work. Even the speeches about her were really touching!

What a beautiful tribute to such a legend! Happy 90th Birthday to Carol Burnett!

[yours-stevie]

She’s so damn gorgeous 🖤

[dorothy16]

Darren Criss at the ‘Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love’ premiere.

[whoworewhatjewels]

Who Wore What Jewels Weekly

Who Wore What Jewels Weekly

We are rounding up the best jewels of the week. From Jenna Ortega doubling up on the iconic Elsa Peretti Bean necklaces for Tiffany & Co. to Jodie Turner-Smith’s jaw-dropping multi-colored gemstone red carpet jewels courtesy of Irene Neuwirth to the epic brooch moments spotted on the likes of Nick Jonas, Ke Hey Quan, and model Coco Rocha, scroll down to see who wore what jewels and vote on your…

[gatalentan]

SHERYL LEE RALPH 📺Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter & Love (2023)

[d-criss-news]

nbc: an iconic duet in honor of all of @itscarolburnett’s duets!!! #CarolBurnett90

[datshitrandom]

Darren Criss attends NBC's "Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love" Birthday Special | March 02, 2023 | 📸 by Chris Pizzello/AP

[dopescissorscashwagon]

Marisa Tomei, Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love, March 2, 2023

[callmedotseurat]

Bernadette Peters and Kristin Chenoweth sing "Old Friends" in honor of Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett’s 60-year friendship at Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love (April 2023)

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SOFÍA VERGARA arrives at NBC's "Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter + Love" Birthday Special at Avalon Hollywood & Bardot (March 2, 2023)

[linusbenjamin]

Rhea Seehorn attends NBC's "Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love" Birthday Special at Avalon Hollywood & Bardot on March 02, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.