Darren Criss, Rachel Zegler and Broadway's Best Strike a Pose for PEOPLE Backstage at Elsie Fest 2024 (Exclusive)

The theater-themed musical festival, which Criss created, is about 'showcasing the breath of talent and strength of this industry,' he tells PEOPLE

Elsie Fest, the theatre-themed music festival created by Emmy-winner Darren Criss, returned to New York City for its seventh installment on Sunday, Sept. 8 with a star-studded panel of performers belting the best of Broadway and beyond to a crowd of eager fans gathered at The Rooftop at Pier 17.

The fun kicked off as the sun set on the city and continued as the lights of Manhattan and Brooklyn lit up the dark late summer sky.

"It's important for me to keep this distinctly New York, but also distinctly about showcasing the breath of talent and strength of this industry," Criss, 37, tells PEOPLE of the festival, which he first launched in 2015 (it returned, this year, after a two year absence). "It is a personal investment; not a financial one, but a spiritual and emotional investment in this community that has given me so much."

Criss, who is a veteran of Broadway and will tread the boards again this fall in the upcoming new musical Maybe Happy Ending shares that he's in "the service industry."

"For me, this is a service to our community of people who love this world, this material, these people, this music, this tradition," Criss says. "So anything I can do to try and give more back to those that I've also been a part of my whole life is also of great importance to me."

Among the performers taking the stage were Rachel Zegler, Jordan Fisher, Joy Woods, John Gallagher Jr., Will Butler, Lizzy McAlpine and RuPaul's Drag Race alum Alaska.

All, and more, were captured on photos backstage PEOPLE can exclusively debut.

Ryan Miller, Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, Nick Blaemire and Taylor Trensch

Derek Connolly's beloved 2012 time-travel film Safety Not Guaranteed has been transformed into a new musical by bookwriter Nick Blaemire and composer/lyricist Ryan Miller.

Both were on hand Sunday with stars Nkeki Obi-Melekwe and Taylor Trensch, who previewed the song "Why Does No One Name Their Songs In Person." Performances of the musical begin Sept. 17 at the BAM Harvey Theater for a limited engagement through Oct. 20. 

Joe Serafini and Dara Reneé

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star Dara Renée surprised the crowd with an appearance by her costar Joe Serafini, the two singing the tune "Born to be Brave" from the Disney+ series.

Fans also got to hear Renée sing "Perfect Revenge," from the soundtrack to the new movie Descendants: The Rise of Red, in which she stars as Uliana, younger sister of Ursula.

Jordan Fisher

One of the most emotional performances of the evening came from Fisher, who is currently starring in Hadestown, when he took the stage to sing  "I'm Not Afraid Of Anything" from Jason Robert Brown's Songs For A New World — a tune he said was a favorite of his wife, Ellie Woods.

The Hamilton vet also duetted with Criss on "Dear Theodosia," the ballad from the Lin-Manuel Miranda hit.

Related: Jordan Fisher Calls Son Riley His 'Best Little Friend' as Toddler Crashes His Interview: 'Most Amazing Thing'

Julia Mattison and Noel Carey

Elsie Fest attendees got a preview of the season's most anticipated hits when Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, the lyricist and composer of the musical adaptation of Death Becomes Her, appeared to sing "Let's Run Away Together." Their performance also featured the debut of new lyrics for the song, which was first heard when the musical premiered in Chicago this past spring.

"We're so excited for audiences to finally see it," the pair tell PEOPLE of the show, which stars Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard in the roles made famous by Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn on screen. "We begin previews Oct. 23 and are still making tweaks, trying to get the most amount of jokes in there as we can. It's been such a fun process."

Related: Death Becomes Her Musical Creeps Closer to Broadway in First-Look at Show's Official Artwork (Exclusive)

Alaska

The RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars champion will conquer Off-Broadway with Drag: The Musical, the original show she wrote and created alongside collaborators Tomas Costanza and Ashley Gordon. Performances begin Sept. 30 at New World Stages, with opening night set for Oct. 21.

Taking the stage with co-star Nick Adams, Alaska and the cast performed two songs from the show: "Queen Kitty" and "Two Bitches Are Better Than One."

Darren Criss

Criss offered Glee fans plenty to cheer about with five nods to the show that made him a household name, beginning with "Teenage Dream" — the Katy Perry hit he famously covered when his character, Blaine Anderson, was first introduced on the series. He also sang "Cough Syrup" and "Arthur's Theme," two others tunes he covered on the Fox hit.

Later, Criss reunited with "Warblers" Telly Leung and Curt Mega, as well as Max Adler (who played Dave Karofsky on Glee) for a performance of "Sincere" from The Music Man.

The special guests kept coming when former costar Chord Overstreet came out to end Criss' set, reprising another song they duetted on while on Glee: Billy Joel's "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)."

JC Chasez

Elsewhere in his set, Criss brought out Chasez — who is penning the musical to the upcoming Frankenstein musical, Playing with Fire — for a performance of two *NSYNC hits: "It's Gonna Be Me" and "Bye Bye Bye."

"I’ve known JC Chasez for a long time from my time in Los Angeles," Criss tells PEOPLE. "I met him and we got on really well. We were writing music together and he’s just been such a bench in my life. I’ll ask him to show up for shows that I’ll play, if I’m doing ‘90s songs, he’ll come up and say yes, which is beyond my wildest dreams."

"I have to play it cool as if I think I belong singing his songs with him on stage," Criss adds." I was — I think people say this to be nice in interviews, like, ‘I was such a fan.’ But I was a f---ing fan! I am a f---ing fan of *NSYNC. I know that whole album like the back of my hand, No Strings Attached. And he was always one of my favorite singers so getting to be with him is pretty amazing."

Related: Ain't No Lie: JC Chasez Makes Rare Appearance to Perform Iconic *NSYNC Songs with Darren Criss

Jordan Fisher, Dez Duron, Helen J Shen

Other guests in Criss' set included an appearance from his Maybe Happy Ending costars Dez Duron (center) and Helen J Shen (right)

Criss and Shen performed the title track, while Duron sang the ballad, "A Sentimental Person."

Dez Duron, Andrew Barth Feldman and Joe Serafini

Shen later joined Criss and boyfriend Andrew Barth Feldman (center) for a performance of "Granger Danger" from A Very Potter Musical.

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Will Butler

Butler, Arcade Fire alum and Stereophonic composer rocked out to two songs from the Tony Award-winning play, "Drive and Masquerade."

Joining him on stage was a pair of background singers, and Justin Craig, Stereophonic's music director.

Joy Woods

The stage actress, currently treading the boards in The Notebook, covered two pop hits: "Happy" by Natasha Bedingfield and "Hummingbird Heartbeat" by Katy Perry.

Woods then sang her hit "My Days" from The Notebook, which has become a viral hit on TikTok.

Lola Tung, Solea Pfeiffer, Maia Reficco

As the music played on stage, pals Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Solea Pfeiffer (Moulin Rouge!) and Maia Reficco (Pretty Little Liars) hung out backstage.

All three have Hadestown in common, Tung and Pfeiffer previously cast in the role of Eurydice, which Reficco is currently is playing on Broadway.

Related: Maia Reficco Says Role in Broadway's Hadestown Has Taught Her 'the Power Love Can Hold' (Exclusive)

Rachel Zegler

The West Side Story screen actress makes her Broadway debut in William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet this month. But before that, Zegler made her Elsie Fest debut, taking the stage to belt out "Gimmie Gimmie" from Thoroughly Modern Millie while wearing a sparkling gold glitter two-piece.

It was a highlight of the evening, and a performance that had the crowd cheering — especially as Zegler sang the song's iconic line, "Romeo and Juliet me!" If only Kit Connor was there...

Related: Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor Kick Off Rehearsals for Broadway's Romeo + Juliet — See the Pics from Their First Day

Wayne Duvall, John Gallagher Jr., Stark Sands and Adrian Blake Enscoe

As the evening drew to a close, Tony winner Gallagher Jr. (Spring Awakening) took the stage to perform selections from his new album, Goodbye or Something.

He was then joined by Stark Sands, Adrian Blake Enscoe and Wayne Duvall — his cast mates from the upcoming Broadway musical Swept Away, which opens Oct. 29. The actors play four survivors bound together after a storm sinks their whaling ship off the coast of New Bedford, Mass

At Elsie Fest, the group performed two songs from the new musical, which features a score from chart-topping folk-rock band The Avett Brothers.

Derek Klena and Lizzy McAlpine

The festival's final performer was McAlpine. But rather than play her own hits, the singer-songwriter went full Broadway, singing a series of her favorite musical theater songs.

Among the tunes in her set? "Everything Else" (from Next to Normal); Hadestown ballad "Flowers" (which she sang with the musical's composer Ana?s Mitchell); "Another Life" (from Bridges of Madison County); "Pretty Funny" (from Dogfight), another Next to Normal tune, "Wish You Were Here" (this one a duet with Zegler), and "People from "Funny Girl."

There was also "First Date / Last Night" from Dogfight, which she sang with the Pasek and Paul musical's original star, Derek Klena.

Darren Criss and Rachel Zegler

Of course, no musical could be complete with a finale. And for Elsie Fest 2024, Criss brought out the full-lineup of performers and guests for a group singalong of "Defying Gravity" from Wicked.

Related: George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Robert Downey Jr. and All the Stars Heading to Broadway

For more on Elsie Fest, visit the festival's official website.

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