China Anne McClain on her Broadway debut in ‘The Great Gatsby’: 'I never want to leave the stage'

The singer and actress is blooming as Daisy Buchanan in the hit musical based on the iconic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.

Summary

• China Anne McClain is making her Broadway debut as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby
• She discusses overcoming her childhood stage fright, her favorite moment in the show, and the audience response to her performance as Daisy
• McClain rose to fame with her starring roles in Disney Channel's A.N.T. Farm and Descendants

Actress and singer China Anne McClain made her Broadway debut on August 8 in The Great Gatsby as Daisy Buchanan — and she’s blooming in the spotlight.

“I never want to leave the stage now,” McClain said. “I had a history of stage fright growing up. So it's a different experience doing this show every night.”

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, the musical by Kait Kerrigan (book), Jason Howland (music), and Nathan Tysen follows Jazz Age millionaire Jay Gatsby’s (Ryan McCartan) pursuit of Daisy, his lost love.

Playing the iconic character has given 28-year-old McClain (Disney’s A.N.T. Farm and Descendants, Black Lightning) insights that eluded her when she read The Great Gatsby in high school.

“I really wanted to know more about her after finishing the book,” McClain said of Daisy. “With this show, when I read the script for it, I felt like I knew her better, and I felt like I could portray her in a way that was very vulnerable and that might affect the people in the audience.”

And that’s happening. “I've had some really meaningful interactions at the stage door,” said McClain. “People cry, and that means a lot because they’ve been supporting me since I was a kid. Live theatre is more of a direct medium. It’s straight from you to them, as opposed to going through a TV or movie screen.”

About two months into her run, McClain has come to understand the importance of being present and ready for the unexpected. “Shows are very unpredictable,” she said. “You never know what's going to happen.”

But when McClain belts “Beautiful Little Fool,” a bittersweet solo about the expectations put on women, she is moved every time. “It does something to me,” she said. “I sing it differently every time. I’m driving the directors crazy with me changing the blocking. But that’s my favorite part of doing the show.”

Get The Great Gatsby tickets now.

Gillian Russo contributed reporting to this story.

Photo credit: China Anne McClain and the cast of The Great Gatsby on Broadway. (Photos by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)