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CRISS THINKS EMMY WIN CAN HELP ELSIE FEST
Having won the Lead Actor award this year, Darren Criss hopes that this will make fans pay more attention to his festival
Actor Darren Criss says that adding “Emmy winner” to his name feels good, since it “used to be Emmy loser”. Criss won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie (for his acclaimed role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) last month. Earlier, he was nominated for Best Original Song for writing This Time from Glee.
Following this year’s win, Criss says, “Maybe my posture’s gotten a little straighter. It’s certainly a very flattering feather in my cap. I don’t think it means I’m going to work any harder, or work any less harder than I already am.” He’s excited, though, that it could help the music festival he created — Elsie Fest — gain new fans. “If it means more people are interested in taking a chance on something like Elsie, awesome!” he says. The fourth annual Elsie Fest, which blends the musical theatre and pop music worlds, takes place this weekend in New York’s Central Park. “I was the only guy that I knew that had as seasoned of a dual citizenship between this sort of Broadway/cabaret/musical theatre world, which isn’t just about performing; it’s about knowing the people and the culture and where that culture has presence in other areas of culture,” says the 31-year-old actor, who has starred in Broadway’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, as well as appearing on TV shows and in films.
“So between that and working in rock venues and actually being a musician and touring places and knowing how to package a tour with an artist, I started seeing these margins of disconnect between worlds that should be pretty similar. These are all artists that are storytellers that have chosen different kingdoms to speak their language. And I started to realise that there was a disconnect and I wanted to put them together,” he adds.
Previous Elsie Fest performers included entertainers who have successfully jumped from the Broadway stage to the pop charts to TV and movies, including Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr, Evan Rachel Wood, Todrick Hall, Lea Michele, Tituss Burgess, and Pasek and Paul. “I think three or four years ago, it was a pain in the [butt] to try to explain this to people because there was no precedent for it, so not only to festival-goers but to artists and investors... there was sort of this uphill climb,” says Criss.
“...We’ve set our own precedent and we’re very proud of that, and while it was frustrating in the beginning, the proof of concept just worked.”
These are all artists that are storytellers that have chosen different kingdoms to speak their language. And I started to realise that there was a disconnect and I wanted to put them together.
DARREN CRISS ACTOR AND FESTIVAL ORGANISER