American actor and singer
Part of StarKid Productions. Played Harry Potter in A Very Potter Musical and had a principal role in a mini series they did while in University called "Little White Lie".
Went to University of Michigan and graduated in 2009.
Grew up in San Francisco.
Has one older brother.
Darrens brother, Chuck Criss, is a member of the Freelance Whales.
Wrote every single song for Team Starkids A Very Potter Sequel and their fourth Production Starship.
Graduated the University of Michigan in 2009, a month after the premier of A Very Potter Musical .
Made his professional stage debut at age 10 in the 42nd Street Moon production of Harold Rome s Fanny 1997.
Darrens mother is from Cebu in the Philippines, and has Filipino, Chinese, and Spanish ancestry. Darrens father is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has English, and some German and Northern Irish, ancestry. Darrens patrilineal line can be traced back to Johanne Jorge Nicholas Crist, who was born, c. 1690, in Germany.
Before the show "Glee" , he sang his own rendition of some Disney songs at a Maggianos restaurant every Thursday.
His signature pink glasses were a replacement for a pair of red sunglasses he lost.
Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken , who wrote the scores for The Little Mermaid , Beauty and the Beast , Aladdin and many more, once handed a hundred dollar tip to Darren Criss doing an acoustic medley of his songs at a coffee shop.
Speaks Italian fluently.
Lived in Arezzo, Italy for 6 months.
Lives in Los Angeles with fellow Team StarKid member, Joey Richter.
(September 2011) Los Angeles, CA: Filming "Glee"
(August 2010) Living in Los Angeles, CA
(January 2012) New York, NY: Playing J. Pierpont Finch in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" on Broadway.
Appears in the music video for Katy Perry s single, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", alongside Rebecca Black , Corey Feldman , Kenny G , Debbie Gibson , Kevin McHale , Isaac Hanson , Taylor Hanson and Zac Hanson.
[on his "Glee" (2009) character] As an actor you play different,parts and this one happens to be a gay character - and a strong one, so,really I lucked out.
