Derek Keeling, Grease: You're the One That I Want! Contestant & Million Dollar Quartet Star, Has Died

Derek Keeling, a rising star who made a memorable mark on the theater scene in two showstopping roles, died on December 12, 2018, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

A native of West Virginia, Keeling attended Winfield High School and Mars Hill College, graduating from the University of Kentucky with honors.

He moved to New York after graduation to audition for the 2006 reality casting series Grease: You're the One That I Want! with hopes to star as Danny in Kathleen Marshall's impending Grease revival on Broadway. While Keeling, who was deemed "Wholesome Danny" on the series, landed in third place, he did eventually make his Broadway debut in the role as the production's final co-star, alongside Ashley Spencer as Sandy.

Keeling's other stage turns include a performance as Johnny Cash in the first national tour of the Tony-nominated musical Million Dollar Quartet, a regional gig as Chad in All Shook Up and a turn as Charles Darnay in the pre-Broadway run of A Tale of Two Cities.

In 2008, Keeling spoke with Broadway.com about making his main-stem stage debut in Grease.

"A year ago I was unemployed, standing with my friend in Central Park. I said, 'In a year, everyone in the Broadway community is going to know who I am.' And then the [TV] show happened the next day. You put things out there in the universe, and they can happen."