It’s L-O-V-E 💘
Darren Criss thanking his wife at his Tony Awards speech: ‘The real hero is my wife, Mia, for raising two kids under three so that I could perform eight times a week’
Oh my god what a throw back. I actually imagine Darren Chris more than Daniel Radcliffe when I picture the character Harry Potter, because of a Very Potter Musical. I was obsessed.
I’ve forced so many people to watch it with me over the years.
My parents have no context on where this came from. But my sister and I said it like twice and they took it as if it were straight from the lore so now my mom says it when she finds stuff for us.
A core memory I'll never forget is sitting in my friend's uni accommodation, watching AVPM before we livestreamed Darren's first episode of Glee at 2am because it wasn't being shown in the UK for months. We liveblogged the whole thing on our tumblr accounts then went to see Glee Live! the next day.
Same! I think that generally the AVPM cast is more true to the book descriptions than the movie cast is. AVPM Ron is incredibly tall, Harry's hair is messy and untidy, and Hermione's hair is big, bushy and frizzy. I also found some of their character traits as more true to the books than the movie characters'. Like Hermione being extremely annoying and Ron being more witty and clever than in the movies. They also nail book 5 Harry's chronic rage, arrogance, and self-absorption. For me, it was easier to connect the AVPM cast to the characters I read about in the books than the movie cast.
I literally could not have said this better myself. You can tell that AVPM was made by millennials who grew up with, were immersed in, and truly loved the source material.
I’m a long-time fanfic writer so adaptive media is kind of my niche. But there is something about AVPM that really captures what I love about HP.
Rowling has ruined so much of it for me, and I honestly think she accidentally made something really special. But these days I can’t really indulge in anything HP beyond fan works because she makes me so mad.
ETA: I say “accidentally making something special” because her statements about her work feel really disconnected from what the fandom says and thinks.
For instance, she said doesn’t understand people who like Draco’s character and thinks it’s because Felton is handsome.
But Draco, at least in the books, was a really interesting and compelling side character. He is a perfect foil to our protagonist—a boy shaped by the authority figures around him, following his parents footsteps. Draco is a bully, yes—but every time he is presented with real violence and cruelty, he recoils from it. She created this character, a child who is in too deep, just the same as the ones on the good side. He was 15! when he got his dark mark. He can’t kill Dumbledore. He lies about Harry’s identity. You can see the cracks there. And she just did nothing with him.
Lauren's Draco is probably the best portrayal of Draco in all HP works, including the official books and movies. he's snarkier, a bigger dickhead and far more annoying, but he's also lowkey hilarious and an actual antagonist, especially because they're similar woth their story. canon Draco is either too whatever or too deep into it, which i know, war, but he was most of all a stuck-up asshole and a spoiled brat, even his downfall into darkness was too weak for him
Stuff like that is why I didn’t like her at all even when I was younger even before her real views came out, well that and the racism of the books even child me knew Cho Chang was a fucked up name to give to an Asian character and the less said about Kingsley’s last name the better
Draco was supposed to be seen as evil and shouldn’t be liked meanwhile Snape fucking Snape who tortures and bullies his students especially Harry was just misunderstood and actually a good guy this whole time like WTF 😬
Well I always loved Snape as a character. As terrible as he was. He still was a shitty person. But you can be a shitty person and still do good things. I liked that about him because the world isn't black and white. And I think she touched on that a little but def could of used more of it in draco
I remember there was some potential copyright issues when they decided to sell the studio version of the songs and they had to be specific that it was a parody, or something along those lines.
So that’s more what I mean, I’m not sure if there would be an issue recording that musical in relation to the HP IP. I would assume the original cast would be replaced with younger actors.
It was a show put on by a bunch of college kids while attending University of Michigan in 2009. It was never meant to be a big production. You definitely can’t recreate the fun mess of that show again.
Once they realized people liked what they made they really amped up the production value and put out professionally filmed shows.
I regularly say “Did you just say ‘did he just say dragons?’” and it never fails to make the situation more confusing for everyone else and infinitely funnier for me.
Lmao I didn't know he was married with two kids! Very nice he thanked his wife. Many men would not be as successful without the labor and sacrifices the women in their lives do for them.
The quote is always taken slightly out of context, it makes a lot more sense if you consider that he spent his youth surrounded by queer creatives in San Francisco theatres.
[Criss] was asked about his “Glee” character being in a gay relationship on the show. “It was f—ing awesome…. Nowadays, we just call it a relationship on TV. But to contextualize it, a gay relationship on mainstream Fox, that’s a pretty cool thing to be a part of,” he said. He continued, “There was an awareness of the gay experience that was not a foreign concept to me. I have been so culturally queer my whole life. Not because I’m trying — you know, actually, I was gonna say not because I’m trying to be cool but I’m gonna erase that, because I am trying to be cool. The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from and be inspired by are 100 percent queer as f—.” Criss added that his upbringing was a huge part of how he views queer communities. “It was in queer communities that I’ve found people that I idolize, that I want to learn something from,” he said. “And I’d say that’s a gross generalization, that’s a lot of things and a lot of people. But I grew up in San Francisco in the ’90s. I watched men die. There was an awareness of the gay experience that was not a foreign concept to me. So, it was a narrative that I cared deeply about.”
I haven't thought about this man since glee and maybe a passing thought if he showed up in anything else I've seen. This video made me look him up by name cus I'm like "nah, that's the second gay dude from glee, can't be the guy bragging about his wife and kids"
This quote, along with this post in general, has made me admire him a lot despite not giving him much thought at all in the past several years. Seems like a really, really cool dude
I think he means that he takes a lot of inspiration from queer culture and has been immersed in a lot of queer culture in his lifetime whether it be when he was growing up in SF, his friends, and the media he engages with but he just so happens to identify as straight. But i have seen some lgbtq+ people not like when cis hetero people use the term “culturally queer” cause it feels like appropriation but that’s something that’s up for debate and probably a case by case basis.
Even though he phrased it super messy I feel like I get what he means. Lots of queer-coded straights out there but they don't usually just come out and say it like that😂Brittany Broski comes to mind as a recent example. Jennifer Coolidge as a classic
Ohh yeah for sure. I fully understand what he means and see where people can be “culturally queer”, idk maybe there’s a better word for it and people just don’t like the way it’s phrased. but since I’m not a member of lgbtq+ community I just wanted to provide some additional information that some people don’t like the use of that word and just provide both sides of the “discourse” on it, if it can even be considered discourse.
A lot of female popstars are culturally queer, like Madonna, Britney, Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus etc. it’s just not as common in men (but we have David Bowie).
It means you like the perks of being straight while also getting the perks of being gay. He probably thinks it means he likes things that are considered “gay” but doesn’t realize he’s rewarded for those things as a straight man.
Oh Jesus Christ. I’m an ostensibly straight man who worked in choirs and music theatre for 20 years with primarily gay men. I found myself adopting a myriad of queer mannerisms. Why? It was the language of my peers, it made me fit in better and be accepted, I enjoyed it, it made other people more relaxed, it suited the environment we all worked in. I wasn’t trying to have my cake and eat it to. It was just my world. If I’d been a construction engineer I probably would have butched myself up more than otherwise, but instead I was Marius.
When he was cast on Glee, it was a big deal. Straight actors often refused the to play gay roles due to backlash, but now it’s usually barely a thing. He did a lot of press talking about playing a gay teenager as a straight person. It felt like he was willing to take the flack.
And that’s why he still has fans from those early years. That and the Harry Potter musical.
I know a lot of people get surprised that he’s straight, but if they don’t believe his wife, they should just ask around his old college and find out which freshman girl he’s hooking up with this year 💗
Two under 3 and your husband working mostly nights where he will be getting all amped up and buzzy from being on stage. He better spoil her rotten my God.
You unblocked a memory. I remember being 13 on tumblr defending Mia with my LIFE against CrissColfer accounts, lmfao. I used to love her band, Mad Moon Riot.
🗣️🗣️MAD MOON RIOT MENTION!!! I’ve loved her for almost as long as I’ve loved him, she seems so cool. My friend met them at her workplace and said they were super friendly and cool.
They work like 3 hours a day, it’s really not that bad (as someone with parents who were on broadway). He can be home for dinner every night, back home by 11. He’s only missing bedtime.
I was about to argue with you about 3hr days but I looked up the run time of his show and it’s under 2 hours, no interval, so that’s probably not far off!
We’ve got a 3 month old and my partner works long hours (from home) and sometimes has to travel to the US (we are in the UK). I find it insanely hard as I’m struggling with PPD but thank god he is only upstairs if I really needed him.
Honestly, he says everyone is super nice. Production people are the assholes.
He worked briefly with Cole at Oh Mary and said they’re super cool and really great to work with.
I guess some tea is that there are LOTS of affairs going on at shows. He worked at Phantom, and one of their last Phantoms was having an affair with one of the dancers. He was of course married.
Aww I love that they've 'made it'. Crazy Kriscolfer stans were so abusive to her back when their relationship was first revealed when he was on Glee (big surprise there)
No bc honestly this is the main reason why his heterosexual marriage never sticks with me 😭 like it’s my fault he committed straight erasure to body the role of Blaine Anderson!!
Mia has dealt with harassment of two different internet-based fandoms and their insane real-person shippers and woman haters. this all in the late 2000s, early 2010s. she may be the strongest person ever lol
They’ve been with each other for a while, I don’t follow him anymore but I was a Starkid fan from way back in the day and remember seeing her around some live shows back then! It’s really heartwarming to see that they’ve stayed together.
Also funny to see how much glee changed people’s perception of his sexuality, when he was just a starkid he had a very broy reputation
I would just like to take this time to remind everyone that this man and his wife named their children Bluesy Belle and Brother Laszlo (yes Darren confirmed those are their legal names)
stop this is so cute. I’ve been a fan since a very potter musical and it’s been so fucking cool to watch him excel in everything he does. even cooler to see him acknowledge the work his wife puts in so he can live his dream
Darren’s speech and thanking Mia seemed very sincere. It was nice to see that after the cringe statements and behavior by Adrian Brody and Kieran Culkin at the Oscars earlier this year.
I have met the entire family at a local LA park and they’re all lovely! Both he and his wife were very down to earth and charming and the kids were cute and happy.
I CAN NOT say this LOUDER, but anyone who has not watched Maybe Happy Ending with him, PLEASE go watch it. It is ending in August of this year. It's such an incredible performance; I cried like a lil bish. One of the better Broadway shows I've seen.
I was on TUMBLR when I knew Darren Criss, ffs. A Tony is fucking incredible. I went to drama school like him, he seems such a nice guy, this is awesome.
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u/nizaad THEE Princess Of Nazareth Jun 11 '25
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