Re: Kurt Hummel Snark & Bark Thread--Part 12

[angelnessa]

Well, I can tell you which one I won't be interested in. Really looking forward to that TLOS set though .

[Glorfindel]

^I am feeling exceptionally cruel this morning, because the first thing I thought of is that Lea needs as much propping as Rachel.  Bad!!, Bad!! Deanna !!

Lol.


The first thing I thought of was how very much alike, as in similar pompous and self-important/congratulatory, Lea's new book and Red Riding Hood's 'Guide to Royalty' sound (because it's obvious that Red will also mostly be talking about her fabulous self in her book).

I mean, with a title like: 'You First: Journal Your Way to Your Best Life'..........

If Red Riding Hood's book hadn't been announced first I would have suspected Chris of making a bit fun of Lea and/or celebrity selfhelp books in general here.

(I'm apparently in a very snarky mood as well today.)

[Ranwing]

Not gonna be nice here - Lea's book is nothing but a puff-piece money grab. And how much of the actually writing was done by Lea? Well, let's just say that I have my doubts. To compare this fluff to the works that Chis has put so much of his energy and heart into is pretty insulting.

The reality? Lea's books might sell a bit (and self-help books by celebrities are popular with publishers because they do sell initially and are cheap to produce), but they are also quickly forgotten. Chris's books are used in classrooms all over the world. There's no way to compare the two.

[fantastica]

they have different publishers. publishers decide the dates. i think the dates are completely coincidental.

[Buenos]

I hope Chris books continue to sell well.

I hope Lea's books are something she's proud of, since she is obviously alot into health, fitness and healthy living so I'm not surprised she would want to write about these subjects.   I hope her second book sells well.

IMO Personally comparing both book ventures is a moot point.  Different subjects, interests, and different audiences.  They can both succeed.

[brisallie]

Lea's next book 'You First: Journal Your Way to Your Best Life'  will be released on the exact same day (2015-10-27) as Chris' books 'The Curvy Tree', 'The Mother Goose Diaries' and 'Queen Red Riding Hood Guide to Royalty'.

Coincidence? 

Hahaha I foresee a fandom war.

But putting my evil thoughts aside, both have different publishers and though I know they are fans who love Chris and Lea as equals. Also is known the books are targeted to different audiences ,and in the case of Chris his fanbase is quite loyal.

[tanita_mors]

i really don't see how there can be a comparison. one is non-fiction self help book, the other a fictional children's series companion/new book. coincidental or not, i doubt either one will/would/could have a sales effect on the other.

[Glorfindel]

Hahaha I foresee a fandom war.

But putting my evil thoughts aside, both have different publishers and though I know they are fans who love Chris and Lea as equals. Also is known the books are targeted to different audiences ,and in the case of Chris his fanbase is quite loyal.

Yeah, I know, I just thought it was funny that they have the same release date, and it will certainly cause some new drama in the Glee fandom, because that usually doesn't take much, lol.

If we're 'lucky' it will be like another Rachel vs. Kurt diva-off all over again. 


But rake in that money, Lea. If shallow books and shallow pop albums are how you want to market yourself, go for it. But I still hope you'll get back to Broadway some day.

[brisallie]

@Marie,yeah I know what gleek fandom is made of. And is unavoidable to put co-stars against each other;is something that I'm already seen on twitter. But hopefully by the time the books are released,Lea and Chris had taken different paths.

As for Lea's decisions, is up to her what she does. I simply wish her the best.Can't say more as I'm not her biggest fan.

[Buenos]

The continued public sniping/bickering of the folks behind the competing Chris Colfer News sites is sad.

[brisallie]

Max tweeted something nice about tonight's episode, even mentioned Darren. So I took the chance to tell him how good I think he was in the episode, and then looking the comments, I disliked some girls only mention Darren

[ColferInspired]

This is to do with Fifty Shades of Grey.

I love this guy even more.  

[Jellyrolls]

As soon as I saw Stephen Trask, one of the creators of Hedwig, say that he thought Darren would be an excellent Hedwig, I knew that he would be cast in the roll (despite the fact that they were saying that they were planning on closing the show once John Cameron Mitchell was done with the show). It's really just a money grab. I'm sure that the Darren stans have been harassing Stephen Trask with tweets about casting him since he said that, and he probably thought Darren will be a big draw.

The Hedwig fans are always complaining about the casting on Facebook and I hear that they are complaining on the Broadway message boards too.

Darren is way out of his league here. I don't think he has the stamina or the ability to handle such a demanding role vocally or physically. And there is no way his voice will be able to handle 7 shows a week. You don't really need a traditional Broadway voice for this show (John Cameron Mitchell doesn't have the strongest voice), but you still need vocal stamina to do the role seven shows a week. And Darren definitely does not have the acting chops to be portray a nuanced and layered character like Hedwig.

His fans can go and flail. Good for them. But this is just another stunt casting (that Darren's team pushed for after Stephen Trask made that comment). Darren is not a Broadway actor.

[dimpledchris]

As soon as I saw Stephen Trask, one of the creators of Hedwig, say that he thought Darren would be an excellent Hedwig, I knew that he would be cast in the roll (despite the fact that they were saying that they were planning on closing the show once John Cameron Mitchell was done with the show).

I was out of the Glee fandom during its run, but I saw some posts before mentioning Darren bringing in money for H2$ and his fans (and Starkid fans?) were only basically there just to see him. It's more than likely that Hedwig's showrunners are looking to get the same thing before they end the run. Sucks for the true Hedwig fans who aren't so keen on the casting, but it's all business for these people in the end.

To be honest, I'm just relieved he isn't coming to The Flash, as some people have speculated. I really breathed out a sigh of relief when I saw his big news.

[Jellyrolls]

Darren was in H2$ when he was a lot more popular, and it was for a very short run. That was back when Glee had a lot more viewers, and Darren was at the top of his popularity. Darren has lost a lot of fans since then--either fans who grew tired of his antics and/or overexposure, or perhaps kids that just outgrew him.

Considering Darren couldn't even sell 30,000 tickets on his "sold out" cross country tour, I can't imagine that he is going to bring in nearly as many ticket buyers as the Hedwig producers or Darren's stans think he will (especially not at Broadway prices). He just doesn't have the heat.

[Buenos]

Not too be too snarky,  but the Darren stans who were saying that Chris only would be typecast to "gay" roles and then Darren's first non Glee role is gay, so to speak. (not a dig on Darren but on some of his worst fans with their snide comments on Chris)   Nothing wrong with that, but it shows pigeonholing actors isn't just something Chris will face.

My biggest concern for Chris, NGL, is the Noel Coward accent.  Not that he can't do one, but that it won't impact his performance by robbing it of color and weight.  Too many times English and American actors lose something when they try the "other" accent.

I bow to no one of my love of the Scottish God, Ewan McGregor, and even I think his American accents are hit and miss.

[brisallie]

I'm someone who has only seen the Hedwig movie, never have seen it in live. Having said that, I really like it and when I found it Darren probably, or already, is Hedwig, I was took aback. I've seen who have performed the roles before of him, like NPH, and I'm not sure if he's at the same league. I know his H2S had mixed reviews, so will happen the same or not again, lets see.

On a less 'objective' side, can't deny I feel upset he was chosen to perform on Broadway again, when Chris is not. Then I remember he has his Noel project, so I tried to calm down. BUT, I'm sorry I couldn't avoid this stupid comparison between them.

@Buenos, you have a point there about typecasting. But I wonder if these kind of roles the ones Darren feels more comfortable, as he was known as a gay character, and don't know how much is loved among the lgbt community.

[Buenos]

I think Chris will do Broadway eventually, but I'm not too worried because he said he's booked up for the next couple of years with projects.

There is at least one more movie lined up that has not been formally announced.

The one thing that should be fun this year is that he can do a full book tour and not have it compressed to 2 weeks and on weekends because of the Glee committments in prior years.

The YA novel I suspect will have some "shade" on the aspects of celebrity and fandom so I'm looking forward to that.

[Ranwing]

I've seen Hedwig with Neil Patrick Harris playing the part and there is no way that Darren has it in him to come anywhere close to being in that league. I've been griping on Tumblr since the news came out and I've expressed my many reasons for thinking that this is a monumentally bad idea.

First, the range of the songs is well outside of Darren's comfort zone. These are soaring glam rock numbers that besides requiring a broad and strong singing range, also requires a lot of emotion to give the songs punch. Darren's ability to sing these songs without destroying his voice in a few weeks is a big question mark. I foresee a lot of scream-singing unless they really lower the key for him (which takes away from some of the score's most distinctive moments).

Second, this is a character that really is going to require a lot of nuance to play. Hedwig might seem over the top and flamboyant on the surface, but he's a very tragic character with a lot of sorrow in his background. He went through an unsuccessful sex change to keep a man's love, only to be tosses away for an unaltered man. He tries to find success in music, only to have his best ideas stolen by someone that he loves. After seeing Darren's work on Glee, I just don't see him having the sensitivity to instill all of the pathos that Hedwig needs to be convincing.

Third, every actor who's played Hedwig were tall, somewhat androgynous men. Darren is short, quite masculine in the cast of his features and very dark (which is going to be strange considering that the character he's playing is originally from East Germany). He's also very young to be playing this character. Instead of playing a character younger than he is (as he does on Glee), he's got to play a character nearly a decade older. Hedwig is world weary, and I don't think that Darren is going to be able to pull off the gravity that the role is going to demand.

Now, I'm not going to poo poo Darren taking on what is going to be a huge challenge as an actor. This is going way outside of anything we've seen him do and I won't condemn him for being ambitious. I think that this run is a real test of him both as an actor and to see what his draw really is. When he did his last Broadway run, it was for only three weeks. This is still a pretty short run, but it's going to require a lot more stamina on Darren's part (and it'll be obviously pretty early on if he's got the steam to carry him through). But it's also a test to see if he's going to get asses in the seats. It's not unexpected that his Glee/Starkids fans would fill theaters for a few weeks, but for a run of three months he's got to pull in an audience outside that group. Then there are the critics, who might pay more attention to a run like this than they would a three week stint. If this works, then Darren would have a valid argument to get a role that he can originate on Broadway, and do a full run. If it doesn't, Darren's viability on Broadway will certainly be called into question.

This is a big test for Darren. I'm not optimistic but I wish him well.

[Glorfindel]

On a less 'objective' side, can't deny I feel upset he was chosen to perform on Broadway again, when Chris is not. Then I remember he has his Noel project, so I tried to calm down. BUT, I'm sorry I couldn't avoid this stupid comparison between them.

Who knows if Chris has not been asked for a (short) run on Broadway yet? He said he got offers a few years back but couldn't do them because of his Glee commitments.

Anyway: Chris has got enough projects lined about according to his own words, so there's no need for comparison or competition anymore.
And if Darren being in Broadway keep his fans too busy with flailing and fapping over that so that they don't care that much about Klaine and crisscolfer in the near future, all the better. The further Darren is away from Chris after Glee the better, as far as I'm concerned.


About Hedwig and the Angry Inch: not because it's Darren (as it's no secret I dislike him) but with his natural weak voice and lack of proper training he isn't going to last 12 weeks doing 8 shows a week as Hedwig, which requires him to sing glam rock songs that go friggin' high. Even if they lower the key for every song he's in it will be too much strain for his voice.
Darren already very audibly damaged his voice doing only 3 weeks of H2$. Now when he'll be doing a much more vocally demanding part for 12 weeks I fear for vocal chords nodes or other serious (and possible permanent) voice damage. And I wish that on noone, not even people I dislike.

And then there's the acting for the character of Hedwig.....I really don't think Darren can pull that off in a satisfying way.

The reviews will be interesting, though.


As for Chris' accent in 'Noel': that will probably be the big litmus test for him now he's starring in a Britisch movie about a very beloved British person.
But tbh I think that even if he absolutely nails the accent it still will be something that people will scrutinize and criticize him for. So let's hope he will just blow everyone away with his acting and singing.

[Ranwing]

This, for Darren, is really taking the training wheels off. And he's going to have 10 weeks of rehearsal before he takes the stage, so there's going to be absolutely no excuse if he's not spot on from day one. He's going to have to completely fill that role the instant he appears on the stage and there won't be any excuses if he doesn't. There won't be his day job to blames for any shortcomings

The NYT posted a small article in their arts section that expressed a lot of what the doubters were saying.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/darren-criss-to-replace-john-cameron-mitchell-in-hedwig-and-the-angry-inch/

Note that while they credited Darren's previous run for being profitable, there was no mention of the quality of his performance and they acknowledged the very short run that created a "tight ticket". Darren's fans were able to fill enough seats during that brief period, but now that he's going for a run 4x as long, he's got to prove that he can appeal to a broader audience. If he can't sustain sales over the long run, it's going to bring up questions about his ability to hold down a role. And the critics will be paying more attention here, so if his performance isn't up to snuff, we're going to know.

Again, I credit Darren for having the guts to attempt something like this, but it could very easily turn into a disaster. There's no middle ground for Darren here. He'll sink or swim and there won't be anything to save him if things don't go well.

[Jellyrolls]

I was just looking at the Broadway grosses for Hedwig since it started. This is a really rough estimate:

Neil Patrick Harris sold out his entire run on the show.
Andrew Rannels sold the first several weeks of his run, and then averaged somewhere around 85% for the rest of his run.
Michael C. Hall averaged around 85% in his run.
John Cameron Mitchell has also sold around 85% of the tickets since he has been back (including the shows that Michael C. Hall has filled in for him since being injured in the show).

I don't think we'll see Darren selling out for his entire run, but it will be interesting to see if his name is a big enough draw to keep it in the 85% range.

That being said, since Hedwig has already recouped it's investment, any money that they make is gravy. I don't know how much it needs to make to make money over the show production. The show probably doesn't have as much overhead as many of the other shows on Broadway (small cast, band instead of a full orchestra, minimalist set). They are probably giving Darren a hefty salary, but other than that, the show is probably relatively cheap to show.

[Ranwing]

All shows start to lose steam after an extended period and hit a plateau where they bring in good (but not sold out) numbers and excess tickets get sold on the discount market. At this point, the money coming in is gravy but there is overhead that needs to be covered (theater rent, actor salaries, etc). The discount tickets don't go very far in covering those expenses and once regular sales sink below the level when the expenses are covered, shows close.

Now Hedwig is the kind of show that develops a strong cult following. Part of that is based on the show and characters, but you can't exclude the importance of the actor playing Hedwig. Thus far, the show lucked up with three very strong actors (including the one who originated the character in the film) and that kept butts filling up the seats. Now they're bringing in an actor that, by any definition, is going to be a significant shift in how the character can be portrayed. Not to mention an actor that really hasn't proven that he can build an audience beyond his own fanbase.

Neil Patrick Harris sold out every show because he was fucking amazing in it (and totally deserved his Tony award). Michael C. Hall has a long acting history and a big fanbase from his various programs on HBO (as well as multiple awards) so it wasn't a huge surprise that he did well. And you can't complain when the actor who originated the character in the film shows up to play him on stage. But now Hedwig is hitting the point where it's got to keep justifying it's right to remain open.

I have no doubt that at least initially, Darren will probably sell the theater out because he's got his own fans who will surely support him. The big question will be what happens a month in, after his fans have already seen the show (some probably more than once) and he's got to maintain sales. And just as importantly, Darren has got to impress the critics. He's got to prove that he was cast for more than just the fact that he's got some rabid fans who'll fill seats in the short term. He wants to be taken serious and show that he is more than just stunt casting (which some of the critical fans are already saying). He's got to show that he can play the role well and play it consistently. This isn't the kind of thing where an off night will be forgiving, or that he can take the first week to get into character. Not with 10 weeks preparation time (nearly as long as his anticipated run).

As I said, I don't want to see him fail because while I don't like him, I'm not that malicious. But I don't particularly hold out any expectation of him succeeding. I've had several years to see him perform in a variety of venues and he's never particularly impressed me. Yes, he has a certain amount of charm and charisma, but those who aren't his stans and are plunking down $100 a seat should be able to expect more than that.

[brisallie]

As days have passed, I've trying to put my feelings and sarcasm aside. But I mentioned this to a close friend who's a huge Hedwig fan and told me don't see Darren in the character. Like me, also believes that physically is not similar of how I expect the character to be, taller and slightly slimmer. In addition, from what I've seen on Glee, I'm unsure if Darren will be able to pull off the emotions the characters express; Hedwig is not only an itinerant performer, but also someone who had a complicated past and is still dealing with it.

Having said that, I will give Darren the benefit of doubt. And I agree with Ranwing, that one thing is not liking the actor or not be as impressed as his fans are. And other thing is being malicious.


Off topic: John Cameron Mitchell is currently performing on Broadway? Will he be until Darren take on stage?

[fantastica]

how long will his jig be? when to start? i won't go but just curious.

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