Derek Keeling and Grease: They Go Together

By Christopher Moore, Broadway Magazine

Broadway star Derek Keeling knows his way around Riedel High. As Broadway's newest Danny in the hit revival of the musical Grease, Keeling fits comfortably into the role made famous on film by John Travolta. Having played the part of Danny over 600 times before playing the part on Broadway, one can sense that the actor and the role are an perfect fit. "This is my sixth production," Derek tells www.Broadway.tv in an exclusive video interview backstage at his Broadway dressing room. "Before I joined the Broadway cast, I'd done 644 performances as Danny. I did the national tour for two years, and I think I did over 400 performances just on that tour alone."

While Derek may fit flawlessly into the T-Birds jacket of Danny Zucko, he confesses that in high school, he wasn't at all like his Grease counterpart. Describing himself in high school, Derek confesses to Broadway.tv that he was part jock and part nerd, running track and getting good grades. "Danny is way cooler than I ever was in high school...I wanted to be an engineer and for some reason I ended up being an actor instead."

The road to success on Broadway for Derek has held some interesting turns. Derek's journey as an actor has taken him from a Craig's list air mattress to an audition process on national television. "Immediately after college I moved to New York with absolutely nothing," Derek remembers. "I think I may have had like $500 dollars, maybe a thousand, I'm not sure, but that doesn't really last you very long here. I had just enough money to get an apartment, but I didn't have anything to buy furniture so I slept on this air mattress I got off of Craig's list. I had to blow it up like every single hour. I'd wake up and I'd be on the floor, so I had to pump it back up in the middle of the night. I did that probably for about three or four months before I could even get a substantial job where I could pay for a mattress and things like that. So it was a little out of sorts when I first got here."

Derek found success partly through the reality television casting program "Grease: You're The One That I Want." While he didn't ultimately win that competition, he won fans and other leading musical roles, and then with much fanfare, he joined the Broadway cast of Grease with the radiant Ashley Spencer this summer, replacing Max Crumm and Laura Osnes. Grease continues to be an audience favorite, and boasts another connection to another famous television-reality talent competition: American Idol winner Taylor Hicks is also performing in the musical.

"It's really cool getting to work with Taylor," Derek tells Broadway.tv about his American Idol cast-mate, "he understands what it's like to do these long reality competition shows But in the same respect he's a normal guy just like everybody else. He's very humble, very cool guy. He's really chill backstage, he just likes to hang out, just like the rest of us."

"I couldn't be happier," Derek beams, "Actually living in New York, working in New York, getting to do Broadway. It's what I've always wanted, what I've always aspired to do." Given the success he's having in Grease, Broadway is something Derek will likely be doing for many years to come. Watch the full video interview with Derek right here on www.Broadway.tv for more stories and insights, including more on Taylor Hicks, Derek's thoughts on the televised Grease casting process, and why he feels the show continues to be a huge hit.