In the short videos below of highlights from the appearance at Stars in the House of cast members of the current Netflix series “Hollywood,” Darren Criss sings “Singing’ in the Rain” and talks about what it’s like to be biracial, Jeremy Pope sings “Seymour,” and Holland Taylor talks about how her costumes for the TV series were based on actual outfits that her mother once wore. All three performers are of course Broadway veterans (as are seven of the 11 series regulars, most notably Patti LuPone and Joe Mantello): Darren Criss was on Broadway in How to Succeed and Hedwig and (one day soon?) American Buffalo; Jeremy Pope, Tony-nominated for both his Broadway performances the same year, Ain’t Too Proud and Choir Boy; Holland Taylor, an eight-time Broadway veteran Tony-nominated for her terrific performance as Texas Governor Ann Richards in “Ann”
In “Hollywood,” Ryan Murphy creates a fantasy what-if series of Hollywood in the 1940s — what if performers like Anna May Wong, Hattie McDaniel and Rock Hudson had not been stereotyped, sidelined or suppressed because of their ethnicity, race, gender or sexual orientation. All three are portrayed in “Hollywood,” as well as fictional characters — Darren Criss as Raymond Ainsley, a biracial director just out of film school who wants to make a film with Anna May Wong; Jeremy Pope as Archie Coleman, an aspiring screenwriter who when we first see him is working as a hustler to make ends meet; Holland Taylor as Ellen Kincaid, a studio executive who would like her studio to take more risks.
First highlight: Darren Criss sings ‘Singin’ in the Rain,” accompanying himself on guitar
Darren Criss talks about being half-Filipino (as is his character in the series)
Jeremy Pope sings “Seymour”
Holland Taylor talks about how she assisted the costume designers
The full hour+ show