Hello Beautiful People,
Ryan Scott Oliver is a 2011 Lucille Lortel Award Nominee, a 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant Recipient, and the composer/lyricist for 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, Mrs. Sharp, Darling, Out of My Head, Quit India, The Frog Prince Continued, and Jasper in Deadland – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. He’s also the director of music at PACE University, and the co-creator of the popular master class series, Actor Therapy. But, the loveliest thing about Ryan, for me at least, is the fact that he is just a wonderful person. His passion and dedication to art, and the professionalism in which he conducts himself with is apparent to anyone who crosses his path. He is an inspiration to his colleagues and his friends. He’s a gem, a class act, and quite possibly one of the most creative and interesting souls I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know. RSO is a super busy man, and he was gracious enough to sit down with me for a cup of coffee, to discuss musical theater, arts education, and the new and exciting work that he has coming up.
Ladies and Gents, meet Ryan Scott Oliver…
MM: Did you always know that you wanted to write musicals?
RSO: I started writing songs in seventh grade, and by eleventh grade, I knew that it was something I had a huge passion for – I had written lyrics to an Edgar Allan Poe short story which was so much fun, and then I got the idea to make a musical out of The Crucible, and that actually happened in my sophomore year of college. I went to UCLA for music composition, even though the program doesn’t focus on theater music at all. It ended up being both a blessing and a curse, because I had very little competition and I was able to create a lot of opportunities, but it also wasn’t a school for musical theater writers.
MM: Of all the characters you’ve created, is there one in particular that you are closest to?
RSO: I love Willa, from Wee Foxes, which is a new musical that I’m working on. I’ve grown very close to her. When you work on a show for a year, you spend three to four hours a day with these characters, so you get to know them as if they’re your friends. I’m still just getting to know this character, and I still have a lot to learn about Willa – but she’s great.
MM: What books are permanently on your bookshelf?
RSO: The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand – I love it, it’s like my bible. I prescribe to her philosophy artistically, not necessarily socioeconomically. Story, by Robert McKee – it’s the end all be all of storytelling for film, but it also has a lot to say about musical theater. I’ve also just recently fallen in love with a book entitled, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
MM: If you were stranded on a desert island, what movies would you have with you?
RSO: Inglorious Bastards, Kill Bill Volume I and II, Pans Labyrinth, Beetlejuice, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Shawshank Redemption.
MM: If you were stranded on a desert island, what musician’s work would you want to have readily available to you?
RSO: I would bring albums by the composer Benjamin Britton, Mozart, all of Stephen Sondheim’s collection. I would bring a lot of Rufus Wainwright, The Killers, and some Marcus Foster.
MM: Just for fun, what sound do you love, and what sound do you hate?
RSO: I love the sound of the service bell. That “ding” is so strong and optimistic, unless you’re in a spelling bee and then it’s the sound of death. I hate the sound of the iPhone alarm when it goes off.
MM: I’ve never met a person who hasn’t gushed over 35MM, which also just had a sold out show at 54 Below. Can you explain to our readers what the show is about?
RSO: 35mm is a show that I was inspired to create based on the photography of Matthew Murphy. It was an opportunity to flex my muscles and do a lot of different kinds of music; prior to 35mm I had been doing a lot of the same type of pieces, a lot of narrative, long form work, and I wanted to create a piece that could be put up really fast. I’ve found that I have the most fun doing pieces that I (and my collaborators) have come up with, ones that check off all the boxes that are important to me as an artist – and those pieces tend to resonate with audiences really well, too.
MM: What is your role at PACE University?
RSO: This year I’m officially the director music, but it’s an interim position, so I’m only there for one year in that role. I may do something else at PACE the following year, but for now, this position is only one year. As such, I teach music theory, musical theater writing, and I run PACE New Musicals. PACE New Musicals is a really exciting program; Alex Brightman and Drew Gasparini were actually a part of it last year, with a developmental lab of Make Me Bad. It’s something that I’m really passionate about; I really love the creation of new musical theater and good storytelling. That’s something that I focus on first and foremost in my own work, and it’s something that I constantly stress to my students.
MM: What advice would you give to aspiring musical theater writers?
RSO: I would say if they are just starting out, the best advice would be to write everything and anything – everyday. You have to get new stuff out and develop your voice – and that only comes from writing. If there’s someone who’s been writing for a little bit, I would remind them that he or she has got to focus on his or her storytelling. You’re always telling a story, and it’s important to hone your skills and craft in that.
MM: In today’s economy, arts programs are being cut. What reasons would you give to a politician or a school board to preserve the arts in schools?
RSO: I run into this a lot, because I run a theater company in Pasadena called the Pasadena Musical Theater Program, and we end up having a lot of students from the Pasadena Unified School District who come to us during the summer because they don’t have a lot of opportunities for arts during the year. We have a lot of students who aren’t good at math, or science, or the core academic subjects, and because the school system has been so obsessed with test scores, (because that’s the only thing you can really quantify), these students who excel in the arts aren’t able to shine within their regular school year. I think that it’s not about the test scores. I understand that’s really easy from the catbird seat to focus on numbers, scores, and percentages. But there’s something deeper and richer and more human that’s created by the arts – and you can’t see that from Capitol Hill.
MM: What’s next for RSO?
RSO: 54 Below is hosting RSO Fest, which is three different evenings of my work. On October 7th, 35mm was done, and both shows sold out. On November 4th, DARLING was done; Darling is a very dark deconstruction of Peter Pan. On November 18th audiences will be able to see a concert version of Jasper in Deadland, a musical that I’m writing with Hunter Foster. It’s a rock musical about a boy who goes into the afterlife to save his best friend. I’m also being commissioned to write We Foxes, which is my life’s blood right now.
MM: Who is/was your greatest teacher?
RSO: In high school I had a teacher who ran the opera company in my high school called Stephanie Vlahos. She was super zany, and an opera singer herself. For me, she was the introduction to all things hip, creative, and artistic. In storytelling she was non linear, she was visual, she was spectacular. She was deeply concerned with the acting and with the story. It was a change for me, a turning point in which I realized what new musical theater could be.
Thank you, Ryan!
(And I hope to see everyone on November 18th at 54 Below!)
Live, Love, Learn,