Ahead of Glee star Darren Criss’ start as the lead in How to Succeed in Business on Broadway, the New York Times spoke with the actor about taking a quick break from the Fox show and more time in theater.

On Criss’ rehearsals and his excellent abilities:

Preparing for his Broadway debut on Tuesday night as the corporate climber J. Pierrepont Finch in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” Mr. Criss was leaping into the air during the number “Grand Old Ivy” and tucking in his feet as a dancer would. This drew a correction from the director, Rob Ashford, who wanted Mr. Criss’s feet to be flat and extend sideways like those of an outstretched marionette, because his character should lack finesse.

“What you’re doing is almost too good,” Mr. Ashford told Mr. Criss, who stood panting slightly in dress slacks and a blue T-shirt from his alma mater, the University of Michigan. A moment later Mr. Criss nailed the leap with precise imprecision.

On getting the role in How to Succeed and a future on Broadway:

Mr. Criss credited his parents with “giving me a sense of humility and the good judgment about how to spend every day.” Those instincts, he said, led him in 2010 to meet with the film and theater producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who were impressed with his “Glee” work.

Soon afterward, as they were producing “How to Succeed” with Broadway Across America, Mr. Zadan and Mr. Meron said they asked Mr. Criss to consider filling in during Mr. Radcliffe’s two weeks off in September. Mr. Criss was game, but Mr. Radcliffe ended up skipping his vacation. (He did not miss a single performance in his 10-month run.)

The producers then proposed having Mr. Criss succeed Mr. Radcliffe, and the “Glee” producers agreed to let him out for three weeks (to which he added his two-week winter vacation for rehearsals). The Broadway producers said they would be delighted to have him return to the musical during a future “Glee” hiatus.

“We’d also definitely be up for finding another show for Darren, once he is not tied down to ‘Glee,’ ” said Mr. Zadan, who added that so-called Gleeks, StarKid fans and others have helped sell out Tuesday night’s opening performance and made ticket sales for the three-week run “very strong.”

Will you be seeing Criss on Broadway in the next few weeks? Read more over on the New York Times.