Derek Klena To Play Broadway’s ‘Great Gatsby’ During Savannah Bananas Off Season

EXCLUSIVE: Derek Klena continues to live a best-of-both-worlds life: He’ll return to the Broadway musical stage next month while his other gig – as pitcher (and singer) of the Savannah Bananas – has its off season.

Klena, who has starred on Broadway in Moulin Rouge!, Jagged Little Pill and Wicked, will take the title role in The Great Gatsby at the Broadway Theatre beginning December 5. At the conclusion of his Broadway engagement on March 14, 2027, he will return to the Bananas for the 2027 season.

Gatsby producer Chunsoo Shin announced the casting today. Ryan McCartan, the musical’s current star, will play his final performance on December 4.

While Klena might be best known to baseball fans for his work with the Bananas – actually, the team, an exhibition and touring competitor, plays “Banana Ball,” which is to baseball what the Harlem Globetrotters were to basketball – his stage work is well known to Broadway theatergoers. He earned a Tony nomination for originating the role of Nick Healy in Jagged Little Pill, played Fiyero in Wicked, and has played prominent roles in Moulin Rouge!, Anastasia and The Bridges of Madison County. He played the Kennedy Center in Sunset Boulevard, and has appeared on TV in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, City on a Hill, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Quantico and Blue Bloods.

Continuing alongside Klena in the Gatsby cast will be China Anne McClain, Corbin Bleu, Naturi Naughton-Lewis, Max Monnig, Linedy Genao, Charlie Pollock and original cast member Eric Anderson.

The musical, with music & lyrics by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen, adapted for the stage by Kait Kerrigan, is currently selling tickets through June 6, 2027; no word yet on who will take the Gatsby role when Klena leaves in March.

Gatsby is directed by Marc Bruni and choreographed by Dominique Kelley. The Broadway production began previews on March 29, 2024, and opened April 25 of that year. Since opening, the production has sold over 1 million tickets, according to producers. Productions have been launched in London’s West End; Seoul, South Korea; and on U.S. National Tour.