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What鈥檚 In Your Book? Anastasia鈥檚 Derek Klena Sings Through His Audition Repertoire
What song booked Klena his first professional job? Watch him sing it.
When Derek Klena was 19 years old, he came upon a YouTube bootleg of Aaron Tveit singing 鈥淕oodbye鈥� from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman鈥檚 Catch Me If You Can. Klena knew right then he needed to sing that song at his upcoming solo concert.
Shaiman found out about Klena鈥檚 rendition of the Catch Me closer and Klena not only landed his first big audition (for Catch Me If You Can鈥檚 Broadway bow), he made it to the final callbacks for Tveit鈥檚 standby. Though he didn鈥檛 book that gig, the song still led to his first professional job in New York. 鈥淭elsey said they had a couple other projects they were working on, one of which was Carrie,鈥� says Klena. The actor joined the final workshop of the Stephen King-based musical, which led to the show鈥檚 Off-Broadway run. 鈥淚t all stemmed back to this 鈥楪oodbye鈥� song and I still sing it for the majority of my pop-rock auditions to this day.鈥�
Klena then created huge buzz as Eddie Birdlace in Benj Pasek and Justin Paul鈥檚 cult favorite Dogfight, directed by Joe Mantello, which led Mantello to call Klena in for leading man Fiyero in his Wicked. A year after starring opposite the green girl, he bowed in Jason Robert Brown鈥檚 The Bridges of Madison County and now plays con-artist-turned-protector Dmitry in Broadway鈥檚 Anastasia鈥攁ll from a repertoire book of five songs. Here, Klena sings through his book and reveals the key to finding the perfect audition material.
You found 鈥淕oodbye鈥� in a YouTube video. Is there something about the song鈥攁side from it fitting your vocal range鈥攜ou latch onto?
Derek Klena: It means a lot to me now. I have a lot of history with it. It defines the type of role that I wanted to play and I envision myself playing. It鈥檚 just a good fit for me and the vibe I want to give off and my vocal style, and it fits a lot of different genres so I鈥檓 able to use it a lot. It鈥檚 a good go-to.
What are your other go-to songs?
鈥淢arta鈥� from Kiss of the Spider Woman, which was written by Terrence McNally鈥攚ho wrote Anastasia and Ragtime, which is one of my favorite musicals ever. I sang it for a benefit honoring Terrence. I was asked to sing this song and fell in love with it. It鈥檚 a more traditional musical theatre song, so I use that in all the traditional auditions I go in for. That鈥檚 my go-to for that genre.
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It鈥檚 important to pick those songs that you can use for a lot of different things that you feel most comfortable in and that fit a lot of different styles of music. If I have to sing a straight-up rock song I鈥檝e sang 鈥淒rops of Jupiter,鈥� or 鈥淔aithfully鈥� by Journey. For those few and far between country rock musicals, 鈥淕od Bless the Broken Road.鈥�
Do you add the songs that you鈥檝e sung in shows to your book?
I don鈥檛. That鈥檚 the thing about doing an original show. It鈥檚 amazing to have that opportunity to create the role, but I don鈥檛 think I鈥檇 ever be able to sing that in an audition. To me that would be like, 鈥淩emember when I played this role?鈥� It automatically profiles me in that specific show. Since I was lucky enough to create it, I don鈥檛 want them to view me as Eddie Birdlace or Dmitry. I鈥檇 rather it be a blank slate and see their role instead of a previous role I鈥檝e done.
What did you sing for auditions when you were in middle school and high school?
鈥淥ld Red Hills of Home鈥� from Parade was a big competition song of mine. I sang 鈥淪omething鈥檚 Coming鈥� from West Side Story, 鈥淕iants in the Sky鈥� from Into the Woods, 鈥淐orner of the Sky鈥� from Pippin鈥擨 went through the book of stereotypical men鈥檚 songs.
What鈥檚 your philosophy in choosing the songs you use now?
I also like to pick songs that show off your range but don鈥檛 jump in your face right away. You should first pull their attention in the first couple bars and grow into yourself. That鈥檚 what I try to tell myself every time I prepare for an audition is to give them a little mini one-act play in 32 bars instead of the 11 o鈥檆lock number only.
Is there a song that you would love to sing in an audition that you feel is great for you but hasn鈥檛 been right for a role or a show that you鈥檝e gone in for?
This is tricky because once you get comfortable with your songs you don鈥檛 want to stray. I wish I could sing 鈥淪omething鈥檚 Coming.鈥� That鈥檚 a role I would love to play someday and I always wanted to play. But it鈥檚 Sondheim, so that鈥檚 tough. It鈥檚 so tempo-dependent. Everyone has their own inner tempo and I鈥檇 rather not put an accompanist in that position.
You have to be super comfortable singing the song and you have to love the song. But you have to think about the other elements. Is everything going to sync up? An audition is so many different parts. It鈥檚 not just you. It鈥檚 how [the people casting] feel on the day. It鈥檚 who鈥檚 playing the piano. It鈥檚 who sang before you. It鈥檚 who鈥檚 coming in after you. It鈥檚 whether they鈥檝e had lunch or haven鈥檛 had lunch. It鈥檚 crazy things like that. How many things can you take out of the equation so that it鈥檚 the safest and it鈥檚 going to put you in the best position for success?
Special thanks to Caleb Hoyer for his piano accompaniment in the video above.
