First of all, I’d just like to say that Mr. Mark Dollhopf was the best host to ever grace the stage. He was hilarious cracking jokes and then he joined in the singing for one of the songs. It was awesome.
Secondly, the SFGC Alumnae Chorus, the Yale Glee Club, and the Duke’s Men of Yale University were amazing. They sounded beautiful and I would love to see them perform again.
And, now, on with the story!
So, during intermission, I saw Darren’s mother come out of the restroom. I kind of just… gaped at her, like an idiot. Because -as much as I try to be respectful to Darren and his parents’ privacy and scroll quickly past- there are pictures of them floating all over Tumblr.
Which do not do this woman justice. At all.
She’s gorgeous in person. And she carries herself with such a graceful air…
Anyway. Moving on. I gaped at her like an idiot, but I didn’t want to be a creepy stalker person so I used the restroom and as I entered the auditorium to get back to my seat, she was standing right there, talking to a friend. I immediately stopped, hovering close by while internally debating with myself on whether it would be incredibly strange to introduce myself to her. My heart was beating so fast and my toes felt tingly, I was so nervous.
And then some Starkid fangirls went up to her and gave her a little gift basket, asking her to pass it on to Darren. Then they went away, giggling and whispering “We did it!” as they past me.
So I decided to throw all caution to the wind and approached her when she finished talking with her friend. “Mrs. Criss?” I asked tenatively.
She turned to me and made some sort of reply, but I think I was so nervous I don’t remember what exactly she said. ”It’s very nice to meet you,” I said to her. “My name is ——-.” She shook my hand and asked if I was a SI graduate (she thought I went to Darren’s high school St. Ignatius), to which I eloquently replied, “Um… No.”
But she didn’t even skip a beat. She said, “Oh! Are you a fan of Darren’s?” And I confirmed that I was. “Are you a Starkid fan too?” she asked.
“That’s a part of it,” I admitted. “But also a big reason I’m here is what this event is for. And I’m so appreciative that Darren is taking the time out of his busy schedule to support this cause.”
She told me that Darren has always been very passionate about things like that. “Like the Trevor Project,” she pointed out.
I immediately pulled a Chris Colfer and nodded my head, saying, “Yes. Yes.” (I’m experiencing so much second hand embarrassment at myself as I’m writing this out, by the way.)
Eventually we ended our conversation and she walked back over to Mr. Criss, who was talking to an older couple. And I was thinking, “I’M STANDING SO CLOSE TO DARREN CRISS’ PARENTS. WOW.”
Anyway, I sat down in my seat and the program started anew. The Duke’s Men of Yale University performed a few songs, including their take on Rihanna’s Umbrella. And their dancing. God, their dancing. It was EPIC. Everyone was cheering and clapping so hard, they could barely start their next song.
And then they started harmonizing, “Dum dum dum dum dum dum…”
Which was when Darren Criss walked out onto stage, singing Teenage Dream.
The theatre erupted with screams (myself included, I will not lie). I was sitting in the third row so he was right there. I had this huge, stupid grin on my face. I hope it was too dark for him to see me… Also, if you must know, Darren messed up the words to the song. Twice.
The Duke’s Men of Yale went backstage while the stagehands started to bring out his intruments and Darren’s guitar while he introduced himself. He said how good it was to be back in San Francisco, his hometown. He mentioned how he performed at the Yale event in Santa Monica. He spoke about his university career at the University of Michigan and how he used to perform in bars and restaurants. Then he put on his guitar and a fangirl called out that Darren is “supermegafoxyawesomehot” (and, God, I’m sure he’s sick of hearing by now). He mentioned Starkid and that he’d have to change the setlist to accommadate the fans before starting to sing in Italian. Tu Vuo Fa’ L’Americano is the name of the song.
It was glorious, you have no idea.
Then he sang Fly Me to the Moon which is my favorite Frank Sinatra ever. (By the way, Darren did the best whistling interlude.) I couldn’t help but sing along quietly under my breath. But then when he finished, he said to the audience, “You’re welcome to sing along!”
Darren spoke briefly about Glee and how he suggested this song for one of the episodes, then started to play the part of Animal they used for “Sexy”.
When he finished, he asked for some water and a fangirl shouted, “Play the piano!”
“Oh, you wait,” he replied, teasingly. “‘Cause I just might play the piano. We didn’t bring it all this way just for our hub.”
And she shouted back, “There’s water on the piano!”
“Oh.” He paused. “Okay. I apologize for my snarky remarks.” She yelled something back to him and he said, “Oh. Thank you. So much love in this room. Thank you. Some people call it heckling, but I call it very genuine and sincere love. …There is a fine line.”
He played Don’t You, which was absolutely beautiful and then tuned the guitar to play One Fine Day.
Then Darren moved on to the piano. He mentioned that his parents were in the audience and how his mother always wanted to go to his shows, but they were in New York or the UK and she couldn’t go. And he also kept hinting at the audience singing with him. I guess I’ve been singing too quietly… So when he started to to play Desperado, I started to sing really loud but the people around me kept looking over, so I got embarrassed, but the girl singing in front of me turned her head and nodded, like “Go on, if you know the words.” You can actually hear me in the videos floating around on Youtube. I wonder if Darren noticed… Ahhhhhhh.
On the The Coolest Girl video, you can hear me too… Excuse me while I FREAK OUT.
Then he played That’s All (where he showed off his neon striped socks because a man in the audience pointed it out) and Not Alone. Half way through that song, all the groups that performed tonight came out onto the stage and in the aisles, singing together. It was so beautiful.
Then afterward some of us gave him a standing encore, it was awesome! But he left too quickly and kind of shooed the people in front of him with his hands. It was actually kind of adorable. Haha.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay after to try and get a picture of Darren, but I was in the same room with him. I got to see him perform. And I met his beautiful mother (who has a very melodic voice. I wonder if that’s where he and Chuck get their singing talents from…?).
So, all in all, an awesome weekend!
The outside of the hotel (the theatre is located on the second floor).
The lobby.
More of the lobby. Quite a lovely place, isn’t it?
Oh. Who could that be…?
And in case you were wondering how close I was to the stage…
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of the actual performance (or with Darren. or his parents), but I had a really wonderful time. All of the performances were great and there’s nothing like watching Darren perform live.
So… Yes. It was arguably one of the best nights of my life.
