Ryan Scott Oliver is a musical theatre composer and lyricist. He is a 2011 Lucille Lortel Award Nominee and the recipient of both the 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant and the 2008 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater.He is also creator of the blog Crazytown. Oliver's work has been heard at the Writers Guild Awards, Off-Broadway in TheatreWorksUSA's We the People, and countless showcases. Along with actress Lindsay Mendez, he founded and currently runs Actor Therapy: a five-week training experience for young actors in NYC.
Ryan has built an amazing career of super cool projects from Darling to 35mm to Jasper In Deadland, all of which are performed all over the world. Recently, he passed over 1 million streams on Spotify. And he hasn’t yet made his Broadway debut. It’s coming, but how has he done what he has done in the meantime? We found out on this podcast. We also discussed:
- Why he decided to go into musical theatre rather than join some of his peers in pop music.
- How he found a balance between making money and pursuing the projects he’s really passionate about . . . and how you can too.
- His pros and cons of grad school.
- Why he founded the super successful Actor Training Program Actor Therapy with Broadway Star Lindsay Mendez.
- The reasons why feedback from fellow writers is so important.
This week's episode is brought to you by Yum Yum Too, a Thai restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen, committed to friendly service and a hip atmosphere. It is the perfect location for a quick lunch, after work drink, or pre-theatre dinner. Visit them at: www.yumtoo.com.
Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway