Blaine was always my favourite Glee character, even at his whiniest and most self-indulgent. Whether he was doing a solo or performing with the Warblers, he always stole the scene with his charisma and vocals. One of my favourite Christmas episodes of the series is the one in which he and Kurt ("best friends and holiday roommates") host a Glee party as part of their Christmas TV special, shot in the style of a classic black and white PBS Christmas special. Another holiday episode highlight, featured in A Very Glee Christmas, is Klaine's duet of Baby, It's Cold Outside (before the song got cancelled - insert eyeroll here).
It was only a matter of time before Darren Criss released his very own Christmas - or rather, Crissmas - album. And I'm happy to say that it does not disappoint. The cover art shows a family opening gifts on Christmas morning with Darren playing the roles of all the family members. The copy I got included a signed "holiday card" with a picture of the same family posing for their holiday portrait. The album has twelve holiday favourites, including duets with Adam Lambert ((Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag) and Evan Rachel Wood (Somewhere In My Memory), some lesser-known holiday B-sides and songs composed by him. My favourites are the aforementioned duet with Adam, a funky interpretation of I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas, an upbeat version of Joni Mitchell's River (which has hints of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun) and the country song Drunk On Christmas.
While there are several familiar Christmas songs, the album is anything but cliched. Indeed, when asked about Christmas clichés he told Town & Country magazine: "I believe Christmas albums are a wonderful excuse to embrace clichés in a way that you're not allowed to throughout the year. My general MO in life is to try to challenge people's ideas and have them reevaluate their relationship to something".
Darren also performed songs from the album (along with holiday and Christmas-adjacent songs that didn't make the final tracklist) at The Beacon Theatre in New York City. The show was also televised around the world. It was a festive concert that left everyone with a warm, Christmassy feeling, despite the doom and gloom that is dominating the world right now. Proof of vax was required to attend and it was also reassuring to see everyone wearing masks throughout the show. Shoutout to the audience who dressed up for the occasion, sporting Santa hats, reindeer antlers, ugly Christmas sweaters and Santa ponchos, and who did not record every minute of every performance with their phones. Although there was one annoying woman with bad highlights and heavy eyeliner that spent 90% of the show on her phone - no shout-outs for you.
Darren (in a sparkly red blazer) was joined on the beautifully decorated stage by several guests, including his former Hedwig and Tony Award-winning co-star, Lena Hall; singer-songwriter and guitarist Bruno Major; country singer Lainey Wilson; singer and actress Gracie Lawrence and Broadway veteran Norbert Leo Butz. Darren was funny and charismatic and shared anecdotes about the songs and the making of the album. He also accidentally split his pants in an overly enthusiastic move on stage, stating "I wish I had worn more fun underwear...that's a bummer".
The complete setlist was as follows:
Happy Holidays / The Holiday Season
River
St Patrick's Day
Drunk On Christmas feat. Lainey Wilson
The Christmas Waltz (performed in French)
Welcome Home
Somewhere In My Memory feat. Lena Hall
(Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag feat. Norbert Leo Butz
Winter Wonderland
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
It Must Be Christmas feat. Bruno Major
All Those Christmas Clichés
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
New Year
for a night like this
Encore
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas feat. Gracie Lawrence
Granger Danger
Christmas Dance
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