Darren Criss is best known for playing Blaine on ''Glee,'' singing Katy Perry's ''Teenage Dream,'' but in his San Francisco concert Friday night at the Nourse, he proved he's really a ''Broadway Baby'' at heart. The show was a benefit for Project Open Hand, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus.
He and his hilarious musical director, Seth Rudetsky, made a dynamite duo as they bantered about Criss' career. Interspersed were solos from his high-school shows (''The Music Man'') to ''Hedwig,'' and ''Where or When,'' his audition song for ''Glee.'' His beautiful voice sounded especially tender and touching, crooning ''Where Is Love?'' (''Oliver!'') and ''Welcome Home,'' a Harold Rome gem from ''Fanny.'' (The latter sounded so reminiscent of the kiddie classic ''Goodnight Moon.'')
Criss also took pride in his ethnic heritage. His dad's English, German and Irish; his mom's Filipino. ''Yeah, my mom's Asian; it's awesome for college applications,'' quipped Criss, who grew up in San Francisco and also lived in Hawaii. ''We rode that surfboard as long as we could. ... I look so white, but one of my favorite things about myself is my Filipino background. It's cool.''
To close his concert, Criss wowed his hometown crowd by accompanying himself at the keyboard with ''I Left My Heart in San Francisco,'. And his exquisite and genuine rendition was worthy of a Tony (Bennett, that is). ;)
Criss' songlist:
* ''Broadway Baby'' (''Follies'')
* ''Where Is Love?'' (''Oliver!'')
* ''Ya Got Trouble'' (''The Music Man'')
* ''If I Were a Rich Man'' (''Fiddler on the Roof'')
* ''A New Town Is a Blue Town'' (''The Pajama Game'')
* ''Sincere'' (''The Music Man''), which Criss did with a couple of ex-high school classmates and Rudetsky.
* ''Welcome Home'' (''Fanny'')
* ''Wicked Little Town'' (''Hedwig'')
* ''Where or When'' (''Babes in Arms'')
* ''I Left My Heart in San Francisco''
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