By originating lead roles in the early Pasek and Paul musical “Dogfight” and the animation-adaptation “Anastasia,” scoring a Tony-nomination for “Jagged Little Pill” and supplementing those with multiple replacement gigs in “Moulin Rouge!” Derek Klena has acquired a following among those whose Broadway fandom goes beyond the big names.

That and the fact that audiences trust the bookers at The Cabaret to bring in top-tier talent led to sell-out shows this weekend.

Friday’s audience warmly welcomed the genial Klena, who anchored his shows with thoughts on how fatherhood has impacted his life, both on and off the stage. An early mash-up of “Go the Distance” from “Hercules” and “Out There” from “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” led to “Your Song” and “Dear Theodosia” all set up as songs connecting his childhood and career to his oldest son. Getting the tyke into preschool provided the tongue-in-cheek pretense for a spirited “Dancing Through Life” (Klena was a Broadway Fiyero — the second one for this season at the Cabaret after originator Norbert Leo Butz).

A set highlight followed, with a game audience member being recruited to play opposite Klena for “Come to a Party” from “Dogfight.” Klena only gave a brief setup — Marine is trying to get waitress to join him for a night of fun — rather than get into the ugly truth that motivates that character (look it up if you don’t know). But that proved to be a wise move to keep the bit light and playful.

More mashups followed, with a “Carrie”/”Jagged Little Pill” combo not coming across particularly well out of context. The set ended with his big solo from “Anastasia,” “My Petersburg,” a song that worked on stage (It’s the one Klena performance I’ve seen in NYC) and was fine here. But as a fan of songwriters Flaherty and Ahrens, I couldn’t help think of how much it feels like a lesser version of their similar here’s-my-town song “Streets of Dublin” from “A Man of No Importance.”

Side note: When oh when will someone in Indy stage “A Man of No Importance”?

After intermission, Klena did a stroll through the crowd to the title song from “Sunset Boulevard,” making a sly reference to the current Broadway version where the leading man takes a singing trek not just across the stage but out onto the street. A fun presentation here mitigated by it being one of the more annoying Andrew Lloyd Webber/Don Black earworms.

Most of the rest of the show’s back half had a decidedly pop bent with tastes of “Murder on the Dance Floor,” Linger,” “Pink Goes With Everything,” and a five-minute-or-so journey through “Moulin Rouge!” tunes. Back briefly to off-Broadway, Klena gave a strong take on “Before It’s Over,” the leading lady’s song from “Dogfight.”

He returned to stories of his family, including charming kid slides on the Cabaret screens, closing out with the Ben Folds’ song “The Luckiest” and returning for an “I’m Just Ken” encore.

Cabaret is more than just a song list, though. It’s the in-betweens that can make magic. In addition to Klena’s love of his family, we learn from him between tunes that he was in “Sunset Boulevard” at the Kennedy Center with Stephanie J. Block, that he did two shows with Lindsay Mendez, and that “Moulin Rouge!” is both exhausting and exhilerating to perform. But he never quite went below the surface with his anecdotal banter. What the now-seasoned audience has learned over the seven years of The Cabaret elevating the arts in Indy is that what can turn a good show into an outstanding one are the details, something lacking in a performance that otherwise offered sincerity, vocal talent and charisma in abundance.