What’s Up, Darren Ritchie? Wonderland’s White Knight Talks Wearing Tights and the Wonders of Wildhorn

Going from baseball pitcher to Broadway player may not seem like the most obvious career path, but that’s exactly how Florida-bred Darren Ritchie began his journey to the Great White Way. A veteran of Rialto shows ranging from Les Miserables to Thoroughly Modern Millie, the former athlete is currently melting hearts (and channeling boy bands) and as the White Knight in Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland, a reimagining of the classic Alice in Wonderland tale. Broadway.com chatted with Ritchie about making the transition from stage standby to romantic lead and schooling pal Sean Hayes in musical theater.

What do you love about Wonderland?
I get to sing rock in a Les Miz kind of style and do all kinds of cool Frank Wildhorn modulations. We just have fun, and I think it’s a really great experience for the whole family. We’re not afraid to be a family show.

You’ve been away from the New York stage for a while. What gives?
When Frank called me about Wonderland, I had moved to L.A. because I was tired of being a standby. I did Thoroughly Modern Millie as a standby for both Gavin Creel and Marc Kudisch. That was a good time; Cheyenne Jackson and I were the two covers, and we’re still good friends. I did Little Shop as standby for Douglas Sills and Hunter Foster, then Des McAnuff cast me in Frank Wildhorn’s Dracula. Then I got a television pilot, flew to L.A. and fell in love with it.

Was your Broadway experience helpful in L.A.?
I have to say, musical comedy has served me well, especially in the TV world. Sean Hayes and I did a workshop of a musical called Nerds, where he played Bill Gates and I played Steve Jobs, and he always says that anybody who comes from musical theater can make the transition to sitcoms because we’re not afraid to be big. We would just try to one-up each other. I leaned on him for help with comedy and he leaned on me for help with singing. When he was in Promises, Promises he’d say, “I was going to come back to L.A. but apparently I’m in a big fat hit!”

Is it satisfying to be back in New York playing a romantic lead?
It really is, and you should hear some of the stuff people say to me at the stage door! Like, “Oh, what I would do to you in those pants,” from these grandmothers, or little kids saying, “You’re like Justin Timberlake football player!”

What does that even mean?
I don’t know! I guess that means I’m a husky Justin Timberlake? I’ll take it as a compliment. We had a group of school kids in the audience the other day, and afterwards 300 little girls wanted to hug the White Knight. It’s the best job in the world.

Do you have any favorite White Knight moments?
Every night at the end of the number “One Knight,” I point to Alice and say, “That’s for you,” and then I call her some funny name. I have a Twitter and Facebook contest where I let fans write in what they want me to say. Somebody wanted me to call her "monkey buns," which was funny. I can’t take anything too seriously when I’m in tights the entire show!

Since you brought up Twitter, can you explain where your account name, 42deeznutz, came from?
You don’t have to tell everyone my Twitter name! If you do, tell them I’m sorry. That’s from my baseball days. We had a Derrick, who was Big D, and a Darrell, who was Little D, and everybody called me Deez Nuts. And it stuck. I was trying to sign in as something normal like “DRitchie”, but those were all taken. Some of our show’s producers follow me and they think it’s funny, so I figure it’s OK.

Your on- and offstage leading lady, Janet Dacal, is featured pretty heavily on this Twitter account. Was the chemistry between you two immediate?
We met for the first time doing the demo album, recording a love song that’s no longer in the show. Someone clicked on the microphone and said “This is Janet. She’s playing Alice.” I’d never met her, so I asked her to slide over so I could see her through the studio window. She asked why, and I said, “I think it’s important, if I’m singing a love song, that I sing it to someone.” Ever since then, we have had so much fun, on and off stage. She’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. As an audience it’s easy to fall in love with her, and playing opposite her it’s easy to woo her!