Leading a Broadway show eight times a week is no easy feat, but if you ask Darren Criss, it pales in comparison to parenting two toddlers.
“I have two kids under 3. If I’m putting the jokes aside, it’s the most beautiful arrangement,” Criss, 38, said during Variety’s “Actors on Actors” interview published on Saturday, April 26. “Because to have a schedule and be with my children all day is nice.”
Darren and his wife, Mia Criss, welcomed daughter Bluesy Belle in April 2022 and son Brother László in June 2024. Less than one year later, Darren began performances of Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway. (Maybe Happy Ending officially opened in November 2024, starring Darren and Helen J. Shen in the Michael Arden-directed original musical.)
“I have to say, the show is the easiest part of my day, as a parent with two under 3 [years old],” the Glee alum told Cole Escola during their Variety sit-down. “It’s true. The life of little ones is ballistic and uncontrolled.”
He added, “By the time you go to a show that’s under two hours, it’s sweet and measured. I don’t envy our colleagues who are retching their souls out for three hours, eight times a week.”
Maybe Happy Ending, like most Great White Way productions, operate on an eight-show weekly schedule. Stars usually perform shows on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, with additional matinees on Wednesdays and Sundays. For Darren, it is the first time he’s originated a role on a Broadway stage. (Darren previously appeared in revivals of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.)
“Nobody is encumbered by expectation or comparison,” he mused, adding that he’s not immune to experiencing mishaps in the very technical show. “They happen, and they knock a few years off Michael Arden’s life. He gets upset about those things, but it happens.”
Despite on-stage blunders — Darren and costars Shen, 25, and Dez Duron also recently performed an impromptu acoustic concert mid-show after a crew member fell ill — the Emmy winner’s performance is still impressing sold-out crowds of theatre fans and fellow celebrities alike.
“Steven [Spielberg] also just came to our show. It’s hard not to be totally starstruck,” Darren quipped to the outlet. “He’s part of the fabric of entertainment. He showed up, and for two hours of his life, we had his time and attention.”
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