Pop Shop Podcast: Darren Criss Talks Elsie Fest’s ‘Pop Culture Cabaret,’ Plans Surprise Duet at Show
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Welcome to the new episode of the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, your one-stop-shop for all things pop on Billboard’s weekly charts. In addition, you can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop.
Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard co-director of charts Keith Caulfield and Billboard music editor Jason Lipshutz every Tuesday on the Pop Shop Podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in iTunes (click here to listen to the previous Tuesday’s edition of the show on Billboard.com).
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On the latest show, not only do we welcome back original Pop Shop host Jason Lipshutz (more on Jason’s return in a moment!), but we also boast an interview with friend-of-the-podcast Darren Criss. The singer/songwriter/actor called in to the show to chat about the third annual Elsie Fest music festival, which will take place on Oct. 8 at New York’s Central Park SummerStage.
Criss, who co-created the festival, will co-headline the concert this year, alongside his former Glee cast member Lea Michele and Alan Cumming. They’ll be joined by special guests Jeremy Jordan, Norm Lewis and Ingrid Michaelson. The show celebrates the music and stars from the stage and screen, and previous lineups have boasted performers like Tony Award and Grammy Award winner Cynthia Erivo, Tony nominee Megan Hilty, Tony and Grammy winner Leslie Odom Jr. and Aaron Tveit.
“Elsie is really a pop culture cabaret,” Criss tells Billboard (listen below). “It’s not just a Broadway thing. Because being a musical theater fan is so much more than just musical theater. It’s about loving all the things that inspire it. And so when you start looking at it from that way, you start realizing how huge of a spectrum this lineup can cover.”
In the Pop Shop Shop podcast, Criss also says to expect a previously unheard duet from him and Michele at Elsie Fest. “Although Lea and I have sung many times (together) before, I think what we’ll aim for is to do a song that no one has ever seen us do together. I’m all about that. I encourage the artists to get real excited about that.”
Criss says that his ultimate future goal with Elsie Fest is to curate a lineup of performers that all have a true love for musical theater – from Broadway-and-showtunes leaning artists like pop icon Barbra Streisand to rock gods like Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong.
“You’re like, ‘what do they have to do together?’ Criss asks. “Well, they both have a love for Broadway, and they both have a deep connection to it, and that’s so cool.” (Streisand is a two-time Tony nominee and a winner of a Special Tony Award. Armstrong wrote the book and lyrics for the Broadway musical American Idiot.) “That’s the headspace that I want people to get into,” Criss says. “It’s not just Broadway performers that have ended up in TV and film, it’s people from all walks of the superstar life.”
In addition to our interview with Criss, the Pop Shop Podcast welcomes back its original co-host, Jason Lipshutz! The founding Pop Shopper is back to discuss news about Taylor Swift’s possible new music (and social media blackout), his experience at the Hot 100 Festival, and the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards. Plus, the Pop Shop team dives into chart chat about how Kesha scores her second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with Rainbow, if Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” will become the longest-running No. 1 ever on the Billboard Hot 100, and Khalid’s six-month journey to the top five on the Billboard 200 chart with his debut album American Teen.
Listen above and click here to subscribe/rate the Pop Shop Podcast on iTunes.
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