Th3Heights: How did you get interested in theatre?Ryan O'Connor: When I was about 7, I didn't have a lot of friends. My Mom showed me Grease and that was a true friend! Then she took me to see West Side Story at a local theatre and that was the end! My first play was The Velveteen Rabbit. It was a musical and I was one of 4 kids who played the lead. I was the only boy. I still remember every lyric!
T3: How did Musical Mondays start?
RO: Musical Mondays was first started in Chicago at a bar called SideTrack where it was, and still is, called Show Tune Mondays. They were the first video bar to play Broadway videos in a "theme night". The tradition then continued and really took off at Splash Bar in NYC. VJ John Bantay took the videos to a whole new level there and Scott Nevins created "Curtain Call" which is the live entertainment portion of the night. When I was in NY I went every week and KNEW that LA could really use something like it. I approached Eleven Nightclub about the idea in January of last year. They already had VJ Keoth Jacobson doing a similar concept for happy hour and we expanded it to a full night and added the live entertainment portion. Just as the ball was starting to roll, Scott Nevins was moving out to LA so I asked him to join me as co-host and make the night a "sister" to the NY night. We are about to have our one-year anniversary next month! So exciting!
T3: What made you want to start a vlog?
RO: Honestly, I was lost. My career was pretty stalled and I wasn't auditioning much. I also felt stifled by the things I was auditioning for. I started watching a lot of web shows, mainly JefferySelf, Andrew Keenan Bolger, What The Buck and the [title of show] show. What they were doing made sense to me and I realized it was something I could do all on my own. I didn't need my manager or agents or casting directors or producers to say yes to it. Just turn on the camera and go. I never imagined it would take off. And, quite frankly, I never imagined it would be so theatre-centric. That was kind of a fluke. It just so happened that the week I satrted was the Tony Awards and my Tony vid took off immedaitely. So, I went with it.
T3: How long have you been singing?
RO: My whole life. I have always been a singer. I did musical theatre at a theatre in Scottsdale, Arizona called Greasepaint from the time I was 9 until 18. 4-6 shows a year AND went to a performing arts high school. It was my entire life.
T3:What was it like when you found out "Ryan O'Connor Eats His Feelings" was going to happen?
RO:When Celebration Theatre asked me to do my show I was kind of in shock. It's one of those things that no matter how much you believe you can do something, when someone else agrees, it's incredible. Believeing it yourself is the most important part, but at some point, someone else has to say yes! That's what Michael Shephard and Michael Kricaflusi at Celebration did for me. Then, to be asked BACK for 6 more performances was even more rewarding!
T3: How did you choose what music you wanted perform for your concert?
RO: The songs really chose me. I was looking for songs for years and once I found the majority of them, the idea for RYAN O'CONNOR EATS HIS FEELINGS started to form itself. I knew I wanted to sing as many of Katie Thompson's songs as I possibly could so that's where "Naked" and "Craig's List" came from. Then, she wrote a song specifically for me, which is such an honor. "His name" by Scott Alan has become one of my "staples" and fits nicely in the show. The rest of the material was stuff I seeked out once I knew what I wanted my show to be about. I got a song from Randy Blair that just fit perfectly, plus some stuff by William Finn and a song by Ani DiFranco I have always dreamed of singing. I also sat down with my friend Ashley reed and wrote some parody lyrics for a very famous show tune! But you have to see the show to find out what that is!
T3: Are there any performers you really want to work with?
RO: There are a MILLION performers I want to work with. I have always dreamed of having Delta Burke play my Mother on a sitcom or something. I've always dreamed of singing with Patti LuPone or Betty Buckley. Betty recently started talking to me on twitter and I can't get used to it! So surreal! But, I really am an actor first and foremost, and I have always wanted to work with great directors like Paul Thomas Anderson and great TV writers like Aaron Sorkin.
T3: How has the response to your Concert been?
RO: It's been really overwhelming. What people don't know is that I have kept my singing voice quiet for almost 10 years. Somewhere along the line I got really self conscious about it. I started to tell myself I wasn't worthy. But, part of me was dying without expressing myself through song. That sounds so dramatic, but it's true. Once I had this tiny little fraction of a name to use to my advantage, I booked myself a gig, a double bill with Miranda Sings at The Rrazz Room in San Francisco. Noone involved knew that I hadn't sung in public in nearly 10 years. Once I had a date booked I couldn't talk myself out of it. There was no way out. I had to put a show together. I strung together 6 songs, some of which are still in my show, and drove to San Fran to do the show, less than a month later. We sold it out and I was TERRIFIED! i called my best friend Nina that day and tried to get out of it. She convinced me to go on and, after a very large vodka soda, I got onstage and did the show. Low and behold, people seemed to enjoy it. And my voice didn't terrify them. In fact, I got complimented! Suddenly, my confidence was back and now, it's all I want to do.
T3: Who is your favorite Broadway Performer and why?
RO: This is gonna sound SO cheesy, but I think it's Marissa Jaret Winokur. Yes, she is one of my best friends in the world, but she is also one of the greatest teachers I've ever had. It is so rare that any of us performers get to watch, front and center, someone do what they are born to do day after day. When I went with Marissa to NY to close Hairspray, I was with her every step of that 8 week journey. 8 shows a week I saw my friend melt away and this musical theatre force come to life. Watching that is a kind of training you can't get in acting class or voice lessons. I am lucky to have her for a friend, a fan and an inspiration.
T3: Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
RO: My mother is my biggest inspiration. Every natural gift I have i get from her, and she has more of it. All my life I have seen my mother battle obstacles and win. One after another. She is ferocious. Haha. But in the kindest, most real way. She is also fiercely devoted to her family. Not just me and my brother, but my whole extended family. She keeps us all linked. That's so important. As I get older and start to think about someday starting a family of my own, I finally see why that is so important.
T3: What is your favorite song that you have performed and why?
RO: I sing a song by Michael Arden in my show, RYAN O'CONNOR EATS HIS FEELINGS, that is the single most cathartic experience I've ever had. The song is called "Move" and it is about the funeral of a young man's father. The second i heard it I knew I had to sing it someday. I can't really explain the attachment I feel to it, but everything about my interpretation, as an actor and vocally, comes from some place totally deep inside me that I have no control over. It's an incredible feeling.
T3: Is there a quote or motto you try and Live by? If so what is it?
RO: Nina always says "Only the boring get bored." i like that one. I also really like when Oprah says "There's no such thing as luck, only where preparedness meets opportunity". I say that in my show.
T3:Is there anything else you want to add?
RO: Come see RYAN O'CONNOR EATS HIS FEELINGS at the Celebration Theatre in Hollywood! http://www.celebrationtheatre.com/latenight.html AND if you aren't in LA, email me the info of the city you ARE in and I will try and come there on my tour that I am planning! RyanOConnorShow@gmail.com
Follow Ryan on Twitter here
Check out the "Ryan O'Connor Show" here
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