So my “How to Succeed” queue has run out BUT
I have officially met Darren Criss. He was absolutely adorable and funny and sweet and I can’t wait for him to be back on Broadway. Everything about the last two days has blown my mind. I’ve made amazing friends and had the time of my life. I know some of you know this, but I’ve tried and failed 6 times to see Darren. 7th times the charm eh? :) Haha anyways when I see really long post I like to know if what I’m going to read is worth it. So I’m going to A) Tell you that yes this is worth it. And B) break it down into sections so you can make the decision for yourself.
His Appearance: He’s not as small as he looks in pictures. He’s about 5’8 which is my height. (Although this was already confirmed I just wanted to say it again. lol) He was sooooo beautiful in person. I thought, wow he looks good in pictures, but no he just looks good all the time. All the time. He wasn’t wearing a hat on Saturday but damn it if that stupid wonderful beanie didn’t show up the next day. I got a really good picture of him arriving Sunday afternoon that I’ll post later. Umm there’s not much more I can say here that isn’t going to be “OMG He’s so gorgeous!” So I’ll move on.
The Performance: Ok I love Darren as much as the next fangirl, but I went in not expecting a lot. Coming from New York myself and having grown up knowing Broadway stars better than pop stars I’m a bit spoiled and used to an extremely high caliber of talent. Well my friends, I was very pleased with Darren’s performance. His dancing was spectacular, his acting is always amazing, and his vocals were absolutely stunning. They were best during “I Believe In You” which sucks because it sent my tear ducts into overdrive. Another thing about the performance as a whole, as much as I was there to see Darren I found myself so in love with this amazing cast. When Darren would come back on stage I would sorta say to myself. “Oh wow! I forgot for a second that Darren freaking Criss is in this!” Haha. So the whole performance was amazing. This was my first time seeing Rose Hemingway as Rosemary. I’ve only ever seen her understudy who I believe acts the part better; but Rose has an amazing pair of pipes. She’s a very good singer and is better than her understudy in that sense.
His Speeches: So I got to see his goodnight speech up close Saturday night and I was so touched. It was about the same things he said every night and I’m sure you can find a video of it somewhere if you haven’t already seen it. He called us crazy (in a good way) for having stood out in the cold for so long just to see him, and he said he was so happy and lucky to have fans like us.
His goodbye speech for the show at the end of the Sunday show was heartbreaking. Of course he thanked every single person cast and crew. He mentioned that not only is he leaving but it was also Christopher J. Hanke and another member of the cast’s last show too. And then he got around to thanking his family who had been there for him every single night, and he started to cry. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the audience at that point.
His last speech was his goodnight speech at the stage door. Once again I’m sure there’s video of it if you haven’t seen it yet, if not then check my page I’ll be reblogging it a lot. Everyone was really respectful. The cheers would start up and the crowd would hush them until Darren was done. He just thanked all of us again from Starkids to Gleeks, people that waited in the cold to rush or stagedoor to people that paid for expensive tickets for being there and making his short run one of the best moments of his life.
Stagedooring: I stagedoored on the 21st. Applause for Darren did not happen there were just too many different factors that would have needed to have been worked out, but that’s ok I’m sure he still felt loved and appreciated. :D We were told we could only take pictures of him, but Darren took pictures with some of us. Myself included, but unfortunately my picture came out blurry. Haha that’s ok though because both Darren and I were derping super hard in the picture. I gave him my Glee Concert DVD to sign and as he tried to figure out how to open the case he just said “What the hell?!” Haha he finally opened it and signed the actual DVD. (Picture to come). I thanked him and he looked me in the eyes with his own wonderful, beautiful hazel eyes (which were looking extremely green that night) and said “Oh, you’re welcome sweetie!” Sweetie.Sweetie.Sweetie. He guys, remember that time Darren Criss looked at me and called me sweetie. Yup that was nice. lol. Anywho I also got a picture with Chris Hanke and Beau Bridges. Yes I have crushes on the both of them. Yes that’s right I said it. I have a crush on a 70 year old man. Yes if he asked me to marry him today I would say yes. and no it would not be about money at all. I love him, always have always will. Haha ok so now that I’ve embarrassed myself I’m moving on.
Fans: Ohhhhhh man. There was such a range of fans there. There were the Gleeks, Starkids, Broadway buffs, everyone. Both days there were a couple of young girls that were just absolutely annoying about everything. One day we even saw a couple of like 9-11 year olds that were screaming because, and I quote “I touched someone’s hand that probably touched Darren’s hand AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” No I did not make that up. That’s a legitimate conversation. Like I said there were a lot of annoying people there, but I also made some very good friends who I hope will be my friends forever. I met Heidi, Karen, Anthony, Shelby, Caroline, Amber, Nicole and Nicole, Bec, and soooo many others. It was literally one of the best moments in my entire life and I’ll never forget it. After the show a small group of us went to grab dinner and then went back to the theater and waited for the light to turn off. We didn’t see them turn off, but that’s ok. I like to think that Darren’s name will always be in lights just the way I saw it last.
