If there is any doubt that Ann Arbor has become one of the greatest music cities in America, this week’s Sonic Lunch will quash that. Tomorrow Glee star Darren Criss will be performing at the Michigan Theater as part of his summer 2013 tour with opener and local favorite Theo Katzman.
Both artists are graduates of the University of Michigan with strong ties to the Ann Arbor music community. Darren Criss founded StarKid Productions (aka “Team StarKid’”) in 2009, debuting with the musical parody and YouTube sensation, “A Very Potter Musical.” To date, Act I, Part I alone has over 10 million views on YouTube. StarKid was an early pioneer of the recent trend to make theater more accessible to everyone everywhere through online digital media. Darren Criss is touring this summer as part of his upcoming album for Columbia Records. He will also star alongside Kirstin Wiig, Matt Dillon and Annette Bening in “Girl Most Likely” (in theaters this July).
While Darren Criss was in production with StarKid in 2009, Theo Katzman was in the studio with electro-pop group Ella Riot (formerly My Dear Disco) alongside Michelle Chamuel who is a finalist on this season of NBC’s The Voice. After Ella Riot, Theo Katzman released his first full-length album, “Romance Without Finance,” in 2011 and continues “to write healing meta-pop anthems to soothe your post-Y2K Pop Culture Hangover.”
The event begins at noon and, given the large expected turnout, this Sonic Lunch is only accessible with Bank of Ann Arbor’s Sonic Lunch wristbands. “Crissbands” are now first come, first serve at the door tomorrow. We hope to see you tomorrow for Darren Criss and Theo Katzman. If you can’t make it tomorrow, @ispymagazine will be live-tweeting via @jsibertmedia along with @soniclunch on Twitter — and don’t leave home without your #CRISSBAND!