Two stars of the former hit TV show “Glee,” Lea Michele and Darren Criss, have embarked on their first co-headlining tour together, stopping at Cincinnati on May 31.
“(Darren and I) met through ‘Glee,’ and we’ve been friends ever since,” Michele said. “We did a few benefit concerts together, and something just clicked when we performed. So we thought touring together would be the next natural, organic step for us.”
Michele famously played the vulnerable yet spunky Rachel Berry through “Glee’s” six-season run. Criss appeared on the show during Season 2 as Blaine, the lead singer of a rival glee club. His romantic relationship with Kurt, a bullied gay member of Rachel’s glee club, was one of the most popular in television.
For their live tour, Michele and Criss will perform both together and separately, and their repertoire will be broad.
“We’re going through each category,” Michele said. “We’ll be doing songs from our albums that we love. We’ll also do fan favorites, songs from ‘Glee’ so we can honor that time in our lives. We’re also both Broadway veterans, so we’ll being doings songs from shows we love and shows that we’ve performed in.”
Michele has released two solo albums, “Louder” in 2014 and “Places” in 2017. “Louder” was recorded while “Glee” was still running, and had an obvious power pop and dance vibe. For “Places,” she often stated she wanted to move in a different direction, frequently singing only to piano accompaniment to honor her theatrical background. Nevertheless, Michele said she doesn’t regret anything about “Louder” and doesn’t feel it was influenced by her work with “Glee.”
“I was also singing a lot of Barbra Streisand at the time, so there were a lot of different genres,” she said. “It was nice to have some space after ‘Glee’ but I still love my first record.”
WANT TO GO?
What: Lea Michele and Darren Criss
When: May 31, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Taft Theatre, 317 E. 5th St., Cincinnati
Cost: $32.50-$85
More Info: 513-232-6220 or www.tafttheatre.org
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