fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Derek Anthony Klena (born October 3, 1991)[1][2] is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his work on Broadway, including originating the roles of Nick Healy in Jagged Little Pill (2019–2021), Dmitry in Anastasia (2017–2018), and Michael in The Bridges of Madison County (2014). His breakthrough was in the original Off-Broadway production of Pasek & Paul's stage adaptation of Dogfight,[3] and he played Fiyero in the 10th anniversary company of Wicked on Broadway. He has made appearances on several television series such as Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Code, and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.

Derek Klena
Klena at the 2022 Tony Awards
Born	Derek Anthony Klena (1991-10-03) October 3, 1991 (age 31) San Dimas, California, U.S.
Education	South Hills High School
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Actor, singer
Spouse	Elycia Scriven ​ (m. 2018)​
Children	1

In 2020, Klena was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Nick Healy in Jagged Little Pill.[4]

Life and career

Klena was born in San Dimas, California.[5] He grew up with his two younger siblings in West Covina, California, outside of Los Angeles, where he attended South Hills High School.[5] His brother, Dillon, is also an actor.[6]

He attended the University of California, Los Angeles where he initially studied theater but switched his major to psychology.[7] His freshman year he played baseball before seriously pursuing acting and auditioning. From 2009 to 2011, he took part in regional Southern California theater. He participated in American Idol's ninth season.[7] Around 2010, Klena was invited to audition as a standby for Aaron Tveit in the Broadway musical Catch Me If You Can after show producer Marc Shaiman contacted Klena regarding a cover he did of its song "Goodbye" at a Los Angeles cabaret show. He did not get cast but was subsequently invited to audition for the workshop of Carrie. He took a leave of absence at UCLA in his junior year to take part in the 2012 Off-Broadway revival of Carrie.[8]

He originated the role of Eddie Birdlace in the stage adaptation of Dogfight. In 2013, he played Fiyero in the 10th anniversary company of Wicked on Broadway.[9] Subsequently, he played son Michael Johnson in the original Broadway musical The Bridges of Madison County.

In 2014, he was cast in the pre-Broadway musical adaption of the 1982 film Diner at the Signature Theatre in Virginia. Adapted by original screenwriter Barry Levinson and with music by Sheryl Crow, the musical originally planned to open on Broadway but did not transfer.[10] In 2016, he was cast to star as Dmitry in the original production of Anastasia, the stage musical adaption of the animated film of the same name. Premiering in Hartford, Connecticut in March 2016, it opened on Broadway in April 2017. After a year with the production, he left to take part in the original Cambridge, Massachusetts production of Jagged Little Pill, a musical based on the music of Alanis Morissette.[11] The Broadway production opened in December 2019. Klena was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Nick Healy.[4] The show went on hiatus in March 2020 and reopened in October 2021 but closed a few months later due to the Omicron surge in New York City. In May 2022, he replaced Aaron Tveit as Christian in Moulin Rouge! on Broadway.

He resides in New York City. Klena married his longtime girlfriend Elycia Scriven in 2018. In April 2022, Klena and his wife announced that they were expecting their first child.[12][13][14] The couple welcomed a son, Dax Arthur Klena, on September 8th, 2022.[15]

Stage credits

Selected credits[16]

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Notes
2011	Hairspray	Ensemble	Hollywood Bowl
2011	Hairspray	Link Larkin	Carpenter Performing Arts Center
2012	Carrie	Tommy Ross	Lucille Lortel Theatre	Off-Broadway
	Dogfight	Eddie Birdlace	Second Stage Theater	Off-Broadway
2013	Wicked	Fiyero	Gershwin Theatre	Broadway replacement
2014	The Bridges of Madison County	Michael Johnson	Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre	Broadway original
2015	Unknown Soldier	Francis Grand	Williamstown Theatre Festival
2014–2016	Diner	Boogie	Signature Theatre
			Delaware Theatre Company
2016–2018	Anastasia	Dmitry	Hartford Stage	Out-of-town tryout
			Broadhurst Theatre	Broadway original
2018–2021	Jagged Little Pill	Nick Healy	American Repertory Theater	Out-of-town tryout
			Broadhurst Theatre	Broadway original
2022–	Moulin Rouge!	Christian	Al Hirschfeld Theatre	Broadway replacement

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	The Tomorrow People	Dylan	Episode: "Pilot"
2014	The Carrie Diaries	Pvt. Robert Watson	Episode: "Date Expectations"
2015	Law & Order: SVU	Connor Howell	Episode: "Devastating Story"
	One Bad Choice	Drew	Episode: "Stephan Perez"
2016–2018	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Douglas Fingablast / DJ Fingablast	3 episodes
2016	Blue Bloods	Cormac Phillips	Episode: "Down the Rabbit Hole"
	Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Brandon Schmidt	Episode: "Doping"
	Quantico	Eric Boyer	Episode: "Kubark"
2019	The Code	Adam Turnbull / Lt. Adam Turnbull	5 episodes
2022	Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin	Wes	Recurring Character

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2012	Clive Barnes Award	Clive Barnes Award for Theatre	Dogfight	Nominated
2020	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Jagged Little Pill	Nominated

References

External links

• Derek Klena at the Internet Broadway Database
• Derek Klena at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Derek Klena at About the Artists
• Derek Klena at IMDb

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