Jagged Little Pill's Derek Klena Talks Returning to His Tony-Nominated Performance

After appearing in Broadway's Wicked, The Bridges of Madison County and Anastasia, Derek Klena became a first-time Tony nominee for his featured role as Nick Healy in Jagged Little Pill. After celebrating the musical's win for Best Book and Lauren Patten's peformance, Klena and the cast is back on stage at the Broadhurst Theatre belting out the iconic tunes of Alanis Morissette. Broadway.com correspondent Charlie Cooper met Klena outside the theater to chat about his time away from the show, his animated childhood and how he's bringing a new perspective to his character.

Klena, who previously called the Broadhurst home during his run as Dmitry in Anastasia, shares his excitement to be back at his second home. "This past year most of us have spent the longest period of time away from my performing," Klena said.  "I've been at this theater for the better part of five years through Anastasia and Jagged Little Pill. It's surreal to be back. I love theater more than any other art form because of the camaraderie. It takes an army to put on a Broadway show. Even down to the stage doorman Ernie, who's the best guy ever. I saw him pretty much more than my wife for the past five years day in and day out. It's a family here."

Jagged Little Pill is an original story about a family grappling with uncomfortable truths about many of the urgent issues deeply affecting our communities and our world today, and Klena is bringing a newfound awareness to his role. "What I keep having to remind myself is that I view the situations that we address in the show in a different way as Derek, but Nick is still 18 years old," Klena said. "He is still finding himself as an adult, transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. So while re-engaging with Nick, I have to let that happen for himself. I have to let Nick make these mistakes and learn from them and ultimately find his adulthood towards the end of the show. I'm excited to get to that point of Nick's journey at the end of the show, but I'm gonna have to hold myself in check early on and not give too much away."

While away from the musical, Klena spent his time serving as a music coach to teenagers, something that brought him new perspective to the industry he loves. "That's been one of the ultimate highlights of this past year and what has inspired me on some of the down days or the darker days that we've all had," he said. "To watch these aspiring performers give it their all and to be so hopeful and energized, it really picked me up and made me hopeful and excited for the future of what we do."

Now a Tony nominee, Klena reflects on knowing he was meant to be a performer at a young age. "I was a very animated kid," he said. "I was up on the mantle singing Hunchback of Notre Dame. I definitely had [being on Broadway] in me at a young age. You always dream of [getting a Tony nomination] but you don't ever think it's gonna happen. And then it does and you get to celebrate that with a show that we've put our heart and soul into for the past three years. What made the experience so magical is that we got to celebrate that together."

Watch the full interview below, and head here to check your local listings for The Broadway Show. Hosted by Emmy-winning anchor Tamsen Fadal, it is the only nationally syndicated weekly theater news program.