Darren Criss News

BroadwayWorld's Senior Photographer Walter McBride has picked his favorite onstage photos from the year and you can check out the rest of his collection below! CLICK HERE to check out Part 1.

In 2012, BroadwayWorld brought you the most complete coverage of the Great White Way with the expansion of BWW TV. From curtain calls to interviews with Richard Ridge to all of Broadway's best events and more, take a look back at the year with video highlights!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. The BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards winners and 1/9/13 Celebration, 'Mormon' and 'Les Miz' reaction, 'Oliver!' opens, 'Lucy' extends, StarKid goes sketch, our unofficial Lloyd Webber festival and more!

As 2012 comes to a close, many Austin theater companies are putting together their 2013-2014 season. Given the incredible talent in this town and the large number of daring, courageous theater groups in the Austin area, here are my picks for 13 musicals that I'd love to see produced in the 2013-2014 season.

Before GLEE creator Ryan Murphy Tweeted a picture of Blaine (Darren Criss) shirtless and posing with a candy cane for the supposed 'Men of McKinley' calendar last week, he revealed Mr. July--Blake Jenner, also shirtless, in an Uncle Sam hat and patriotic boxers. God bless America. Check it out below!

On Twitter Watch, Ryan Murphy wrote 'Merry Christmas. Men of McKinley calendar coming soon... pic.twitter.com/nKWRMIOC'

Liberally utilizing tried and true heartstring-tugging tropes masterfully displayed in holiday entities as diverse as LOVE, ACTUALLY, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, HOLIDAY INN and even showing some Chanukah action sure to set virtually anybody's menorah fully alight thanks to the Puckerman brothers, GLEE's Christmas episode - this year, aptly titled 'Love, Actually' and written by Matthew Hodgson and directed by HAIRSPRAY and ROCK OF AGES movie musical helmer and a recent participant in this very column, Adam Shankman (available here) - was all in all a quite quintessential quintet of seasonal joy, cheer, and, well, glee, broaching the quoin of many and any a viewer's heart valves in so pleasingly enacting its ample entertainment value over the course of the episode's five featured segments within the winning framework. While the split-location structure of the series as dictated by the new style of GLEE 4.0 is assuredly more pronounced than would be the case had the proposed NYC-set spin-off gotten the greenlight by FOX, the cast and creators are making it all work and it is more seamless as it goes on - and the addictive, giddy, all-consuming glee of it all that drew us all in in the first season is still there to relish by Santa's sleigh-ful.

Fox has just released the full video of Darren Criss and Chris Colfer performing 'White Christmas,' featured in GLEE's upcoming Christmas episode, set to air tonight, Dec. 13. Check it out below!

Nominees for the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® for outstanding performances in 2012 in five film and eight primetime television categories as well as the SAG Awards honors for outstanding action performances by film and television stunt ensembles were announced this morning in Los Angeles at the Pacific Design Center's SilverScreen Theater in West Hollywood.

Nominees for the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® for outstanding performances in 2012 in five film and eight primetime television categories as well as the SAG Awards honors for outstanding action performances by film and television stunt ensembles were announced this morning in Los Angeles at the Pacific Design Center's SilverScreen Theater in West Hollywood.

Even the rain on Sunday night did not dampen the holiday spirit at GLEE star Darren Criss's free Christmas concert at eBay Toy Box, a pop-up shop-turned-concert venue, located in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan.

Actor, singer, and composer Darren Criss plays the role of brand ambassador for eBay's annual "Toys for Tots" anew by performing a free outdoor acoustic concert at eBay Toy Box, a pop-up shop and concert venue at the Meatpacking District in Manhattan (Hudson Street and 14 Street), tomorrow, December 9 at 5 p.m.

"For the first time in its charmed, yet pitiful, existence the New Directions has lost Sectionals," and, with that, indeed did "Christmas came early for one Sue Sylvester." As GLEE gave the gift of its inimitable takes on a number of musical theatre showstoppers - among them, songs from CHICAGO, COMPANY and HALLELUJAH, BABY - to gleeks around the world with last night aptly-titled "Swan Song" episode, the Lima-based glee club that now and always acts as the focal point of the show faced perhaps its most treacherous hurdle yet - and that's not even including Sue's evil shenanigans. In NYC, the temperature rose in much the same way that it actually unseasonably happened to do in Gothan itself this week with a spectacularly sexy "All That Jazz" and some seriously stage-worthy barn-burners courtesy of "Being Good Isn't Good Enough" - recently re-introduced to the world at large by no less than Barbra Streisand in her landmark 2012 tour (as well as on her recently released cut-out compilation RELEASE ME) - and COMPANY classic "Being Alive". While next week is sure to provide all the holiday cheer a show named GLEE could possibly muster - which is a whole lot - this week's "Swan Song" reminded us why GLEE connects and continues to express an all-too-rarely explored, expressed and enacted trope of those who are involved with the performing arts: competition inspires greater dedication.

Charlene Kaye will tour Nashville, NYC, Boston and Vienna, Va. this December in support of her album Animal Love.

Fox has just released the audio track for Darren Criss and Chris Colfer's duet for 'White Christmas,' featured in GLEE's upcoming Christmas episode, set to air on Dec. 13. Check it out below!

Click below to watch Darren Criss perform a cover of Katy Perry's 'Part of Me', Kristin Chenoweth and Anna Kendrick singing 'For Good' from WICKED, and American Idol's Jessica Sanchez dueting with GLEE's Matthew Morrison at last night's Trevor Live event!

'Tis the season to be jolly as the Glee cast releases Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Vol. 3, available Tuesday, December 11.The album features timeless holiday classics, including "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," "White Christmas," and "Jingle Bell Rock." Six of the tracks recorded will be included on the holiday themed episode of Glee, which airs Thursday, December 13, at 9:00 PM ET/PT on FOX. Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Vol. 3 will also showcase 4 songs recorded exclusively for the release including "Joy To The World" and "Silent Night" (see below for track-listing).

Last night, December 2, The Trevor Project presented its annual benefit event, "Trevor Live" presented by Audi of America and Wells Fargo and directed by celebrated director, producer and choreographer Adam Shankman. This high-profile evening of music, comedy and entertainment honoedr Audi of America with the Trevor 2020 Award and international superstar Katy Perry with the Trevor Hero Award. A slew of Broadway favorites were in attendence, including: Kristin Chenoweth, Andrew Rannells, Laura Benanti, Betty Buckley, Matthew Morrison, and more. Check out photos from the red carpet below!