Darren Criss reveals songwriting chops and a goofier side
NEW YORK (AP) — Great songs have been inspired by all kinds of things — like love, dreams and heartache. Now comes an unlikely one inspired by a hot dog.
That's the comedic premise of the first episode of Quibi's new 12-part series “Royalties,” starring Darren Criss and Kether Donohue as an aspiring songwriter team. One day, the hungry duo find creativity while munching on frankfurters.
“I was playing ketchup," the lyrics go to their subsequent soaring ballad. "It was more than I could chew/But you put me on a roll/Turned me into a frank man.”
The satirical look at the music industry has a fresh song in every episode and allows Criss to show off more than his acting chops: He wrote all the music, from a raunchy rap song to pure, irresistible pop.
“Songwriting and music has always been such a huge part of my life that gives me such a great deal of joy. That has just had nowhere near the amount of exposure as my acting career,” said the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner. “And so I'm trying to level the playing field a little bit.”
The show reunites Criss with the writing team of brothers Matt and Nick Lang, who all collaborated over a decade ago on the cult comedy “A Very Potter Musical.” They've been mixing comedy and music ever since.
“Going into a really zany, goofy comedy is what I was doing with the Langs before my Hollywood train got running,” said Criss. “So getting to go back to that — being a goofball, writing goofy songs, doing stuff that isn’t really totally serious — it is my wheelhouse.”
The show begins airing Monday and explores how songs from superstars are often crafted by unknown songwriters, something Criss has long been obsessed with. As a kid, he studied the liner notes of albums to find out who the overlooked writers were. “While this show is about...