Darren's Miscellaneous Projects and Events for 2018

GQ Magazine-UK wrote:
Oscars 2018: the most stylish men

March 4, 2018

Darren Criss

Wearing:  Emporio Armani

Maybe it’s because he’s starring in The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, but we were glad to see Criss bringing some popping pattern to the red carpet with his tux jacket.

The Star wrote:
Post-Oscars Vanity Fair party shakes up the celebrity snow globe

March 5, 2018

Held once again in a built-to-suite, inside-outside aerie designed by Basil Water encompassing the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, it’s, as always, the annual numero-uno destination for people from the worlds of arts, tech, fashion, sports, business and — of course — those who pretend to be other people for a living (including, last but not least, pretend serial killers, like Darren Criss, whom I encounter doing the robot on the dancefloor in the more intimate round room, in the back)

Vanity Fair wrote:
Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, and Drake Dance Their Way Through the Vanity Fair Oscar Party

March 5, 2018

A circle of partygoers including Darren Criss formed around McDormand as she got down—offering variations of the robot, the lawnmower, and other incredibly aerobic moves, occasionally pulling innocent bystanders into her spontaneous version of Step Up: Oscar-Winner Sequel.

Vanity Fair wrote:
Frances McDormand’s Missing-Oscar-Statue Caper

March 5, 2018

And the night continued as it had to all along: with a bucket of chicken and a determined pursuit of an Olympian. According to V.F.’s Julie Miller, who was inside the Vanity Fair Oscar party, McDormand had learned a thing or two from one party to the next. She left the award in the care of a trusted friend, and set out on her dogged search to meet Chloe Kim, the Olympic snowboarder who McDormand named-checked in her speech. She stole a bucket of chicken from a waiter. (“She just stole the whole bucket,” the waiter said in a tone of awe.) She fist-pumped with some tequila while parting the crowd in her search. She did the robot near the D.J. booth with Darren Criss. She confirmed that the D.J. had not seen the gold medalist. Then she did the lawn mower. Then she salsa-ed dramatically with Sam Rockwell. She did not lose track of the bucket of chicken and did not appear to find Kim, but all this was made possible by the knowledge that her statue was now safe.

Tom + Lorenzo wrote:
Oscars 2018: Suited Dandies at the Vanity Fair Party

March 6, 2018

Darren Criss in Emporio Armani





Absolutely never looked this good before. He’s impeccable. More importantly, he’s notably stylish in a quietly attention-seeking way. He’s really turned heads with his Andrew Cunanan portrayal on The Assassination of Gianni Versace, making it a savvy move to show up at glitzy industry party looking more stylish than most of the other men.

gatenm123: Had an incredible time with one of my favorite people @darrencriss! Thank you @dropthemictbs!

dropthemictbs: Stranger Things vs. Assassination of Gianni Versace. Who ya got?

Screenshots of Darren Criss, Ricky Martin, Milo Ventimiglia & Andy Cohen on “What What Happens Live” - April 9 2018 on Bravo

The Hollywood Reporter wrote:
Dior Kicks Off Coachella Party Scene With Pioneertown Experience

4/13/2018

“Who wants to eat mushrooms and trip balls?” joked Paris Jackson, setting the scene at the wacky Dior Sauvage Eau de Parfum launch party Thursday night at the Pioneertown Motel near Joshua Tree.

[. . . ]

Initially conceived to also be outdoors, this one was a study in the unpredictability of high-desert weather, however, as the wind kicked up so much dust that Darren Criss, Damson Edris, Myles O'Neil, Mia Moretti and others took refuge indoors after dutifully posing for photos against the desert landscape and a Dior Sauvage-branded Cadillac. 


Shortly after sunset, when it was evident there was not much hope that fire pits, heat lamps or assorted Mexican blankets would save this dinner, the banquet table and Dior napkin holders were packed up and moved to a nearby barn event space, and everyone reconvened there so dinner could at last begin.

The Dior reps were consummate pros, and all the guests took it in stride; for one thing, there wasn’t really anywhere else to go, since most everyone had been shuttled 45 minutes from Palm Springs. Though a few did whisper wistfully that the club next door, Pappy and Harriet’s was looking pretty good.

“There’s this guy playing right now who is incredible,” said Criss. The famous music venue has played host to performances by the Rolling Stones, among others. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Still, the evening was a destination fashion event no one would soon forget; it really was, as they say in French, sauvage.

Los Angeles Times wrote:
Darren Criss, Paris Jackson and a stunt shaman decamp to the desert to celebrate Dior Sauvage Eau de Parfum

Apr. 13, 2018

The guest list was heavy on the influencer/stylist set with two of the most notable names turning out to Dior’s desert dinner being actor-model-brand ambassador Paris Jackson and actor Darren Criss and fiancee Mia Swier (who, on a side note, were taking the first night away from their recently opened Hollywood piano bar Tramp Stamp Granny’s, which opened just a week ago).

The Hollywood Reporter wrote:
Darren Criss Opens Piano Bar in Hollywood

4/13/2018

“I’ve been playing piano there every night since Friday!” says Darren Criss of the new piano bar Tramp Stamp Grannys, which he quietly opened last week in Hollywood with his fiancée, Mia Swier.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: True [American] Crime Story actor attended Dior Sauvage Eau de Parfum’s Coachella kickoff party in the high desert of Pioneertown on Thursday night, where he confessed to not being that much into fashion, despite his recent role playing Versace killer Andrew Cunanan. “They gave me this to wear tonight, and I said, ‘Sure,’” he explains of his “Standing in the Crowd One Night” Dior Homme statement shirt.



Music, well, that’s another story. In addition to appearing in Glee, and on Broadway in the starring role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Criss tickled the ivories at Maggiano’s at the Grove to help make ends meet when he first came to L.A. to make it as an actor. And at the Dior dinner on Thursday night, held in a barn on the Pioneertown Motel grounds next to the infamous music club Pappy & Harriet’s, he was closely monitoring the set lists next door, to see if he might be able to sneak away to hear Hamish Anderson.

The 30-year-old actor said he’s a regular in the Joshua Tree area, which is one of his peaceful places when he needs a break from L.A.. Earlier this month, he announced he will be going on tour with Glee co-star Lea Michele. No doubt they will be doing some warm-up performances at Tramp Stamp Grannys, which is near Cahuenga and Hollywood Boulevard.

So I get in the car and turn on the radio and Symon starts talking about Darren Criss. I freaked a little and missed the first bit. She mentions the bar, there’s a little singing…listen if you’d like.

LA Weekly wrote:

A New Piano Bar Called Tramp Stamp Granny's Is Coming to Hollywood
September 14, 2017


The art deco cocktail bar Grandpa Johnson’s, which opened in the heart of Hollywood in 2014 and closed with little warning last year, was named in honor of owner Johnny Zander’s grandfather. It seems only fitting, then, that the bar taking its place is also a retro tribute to a beloved relative from a bygone era.

Tramp Stramp Granny’s, set to open at 1638 N. Cahuenga Blvd. next month pending approval of its liquor license, pays homage to co-owner Mia Swier’s grandmother. “She was a saucy lady and had a lot of funny sayings, so it’s kind of getting back to her memory,” says Swier, who describes the bar’s vibe as “your grandpa’s gin joint mixed with your favorite ’80s bar.”

Adding to the old-timey vibes, the centerpiece of Tramp Stamp Granny’s will be a piano where performers will gather nightly to play live music, with a heavy emphasis on show tunes, according to business partner Danny Massare. “It’s sort of like a rowdy, sing-along piano bar,” he says, comparing it to the Prohibition-era New York City piano bar Marie’s Crisis. “The more people singing, the more people dancing, the better.”

Massare envisions Tramp Stamp Granny’s as a raucous outpost of the musical theater community here in L.A., which means — at the risk of fulfilling one of L.A.'s biggest stereotypes — the bartenders slinging fancy cocktails such as the Tramp are just as likely to be theater actors or production crew as the musicians and singers belting out show tunes on the main floor. The bar's location, just a block from the Hollywood Walk of Fame — with the Pantages Theater in one direction and Grauman’s Chinese in the other — seems ideal for attracting talent, not to mention a rowdy crowd.

Tramp Stamp Granny’s also will feature a residency for musicians, with some “pretty big-name acts coming in the beginning,” says Swier, who is staying mum on the details. She says the shows won’t necessarily be ticketed but will be more like intimate parties spread through word-of-mouth, at least during the soft opening. After that, some events might have a cover charge on a case-by-case basis. Swier herself is a musician and singer, better known as Mia Von Glitz, lead singer of the rock band Mad Moon Riot. She also sang vocals for the L.A. punk band PeroXXXidal, who released their first single last year.

Swier, a New York transplant, has been heavily involved in the music scene for even longer than she’s been fronting rock bands. Her family operates the Bowery Ballroom and the Mercury Lounge, two of New York’s most celebrated live-music venues. Her father, architect Brian Swier, and uncle, concert promoter and venue proprietor Michael Swier, were part of the team that opened the Teragram Ballroom, which primarily caters to indie rock bands, in L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood in May 2015. The Swier brothers and their partners are on the verge of opening another new music venue, the Moroccan Lounge, in the downtown L.A. Arts District.

. . . The neighborhood, with its abundance of DJ-driven nightclubs offering bottle service, could no doubt benefit from a new live-music spot — just don’t expect it to be anything like the Teragram Ballroom, Swier says.

“This is going to be quite a departure from that now, because it’s more of a show-tuney, gather-around-the-piano, everybody-sing type thing,” she says. “It’s been a dream of mine for my whole life.”