2024
Ryan was associate director to Tony Award-winner Christopher Gattelli on a one-night-only concert presentation of Legacy: Maria Friedman & Friends at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway. He then served as re-staging director for a remount at Tufts University featuring Friedman and undergraduate students.
Marco Antonio Rodriguez’s Walk-In, the culmination of The Movement Theatre Company and The Black List’s co-commission, was presented in a reading directed by Ryan.
The world premiere of you don’t have to do anything by Ryan Drake, directed by Ryan Dobrin, and produced by Pulitzer Prize finalist Will Arbery, Leigh Honigman, and Joey Nasta, premiered at HERE Arts Center in February. The production received rave reviews in The New Yorker, Vulture, Theater Mania, and Lighting & Sound, as well as fantastic features in The Daily Beast and Playbill.
Billy McEntee and Grier Mathiot’s The Voices in Your Head, an intimate, site-specific dark comedy presented in a sold-out run at a storefront church in Brooklyn, had its world premiere in January. The show seated 18 audience members a night in a circle with the performers. Ryan directed and co-produced with his collective Those Guilty Creatures.
Ryan directed a 29-hour reading of Korean hit musical Fly to Tomorrow, recently translated into English and localized for American audiences, and a reading of May Treuhaft-Ali’s Bride Groom Witness Waitress at Ars Nova.
At the 24 Hour Plays: Broadway, Ryan directed a new short play by Mona Mansour, starring Christian Slater, Michelle Gomez, Clark Gregg, Lola Tung, Susannah Perkins, and David Hull.
Ryan is associate director to Olivier Award-winner Maria Friedman on the first Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along, a transfer of the NYTW production starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez. He currently maintains the show — noting performances, directing understudies, and keeping up directorial duties post-opening.
Ryan directed readings of When You Were Small by AJ Clauss at Playwrights Horizons and Bride Groom Witness Waitress by May Treuhaft-Ali at Rattlestick Theater.
Ryan was associate director to Zi Alikhan on his reimagining of Jonathan Larson’s Rent at Paper Mill Playhouse, re-framing the musical through present-day Mark Cohen’s memories.
Ryan re-teamed with 24 Hour Plays for their Viral Monologues program, on a week focusing on understudies and associate directors, directing a virtual play by Guadalís Del Carmen starring Viviana Valeria (of Between Riverside and Crazy) and Jim Hogan (of Kimberly Akimbo).
Courtship by Ryan Drake had a Monday’s @ 3 reading with New York Theatre Workshop. The reading was directed by Ryan Dobrin and featured Tina Benko, Ben Levi Ross, Alana Raquel Bowers, Yaron Lotan, Manu Narayan, Leland Fowler, Julia Greer, and Naomi Okada.
The Movement Theatre Company and New Georges co-produced the world premiere of Colette Robert’s play The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents The 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of The Renaissance Hotel at the ART/NY Theatres in May.
Fault Line Theatre has made Ryan an Associate Artist!
The Homiesexuals: a social media tragedy hits the film festival circuit! At the inaugural Lavender Film Festival, Ryan won Best Director - Short Film for his work on The Homiesexuals: a social media tragedy. His collaborator, Gage Tarlton, won Best Screenplay. The film was also selected for the NewFilmmakers New York AltFest in 2023, highlighting queer work.
Ryan directed Billy McEntee and Cam Cronin’s Geraldine Realigned Drives from Gay Place to Gay Places and You’re in the Car Too at the Brick Theater in February, and then directed a movement workshop of Ryan Drake’s Courtship with collaborators Carina Goebelbecker and Carsen Joenk at Mercury Store.
The Movement Theatre Company partnered with MCC Theater for a PlayLab reading of May Treuhaft-Ali’s Quick Service, directed by Cristina Angeles.
Ryan was associate director to Obie Award-winner Whitney White on a 4-week developmental workshop of Hearts Beat Loud, a new musical by Ngozi Anyanwu and Niko Tsakalakos at MCC Theater.
Eric Lockley’s Sweet Chariot made its NYC premiere as a part of The Public Theater’s Incoming! series at Under the Radar, produced by The Movement Theatre Company and directed by Shariffa Ali.
Kicking of 2023, Ryan directed a concert presentation of Harrison David Rivers and Ted Shen’s We Shall Someday at Joe’s Pub, starring John Edwards, Danyel Fulton, Alex Joseph Grayson, and Andrew Cekala, serving as a benefit for The Movement Theatre Company.
2023
2022
Ryan was associate director to Olivier Award-winner Maria Friedman on her sold-out revival of Sondheim and Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along starring Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe at New York Theatre Workshop, working with Maria and the ensemble throughout rehearsal, tech, and previews, and directing understudies and noting the show through its run.
The Homiesexuals: a social media tragedy, Ryan’s short film written by Gage Tarlton that was created and produced in pre-vaccine 2021, was released to the public on Youtube!
The Movement Theatre Company kicked off the 2022/2023 season with a gala on October 17th at Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem.
Ryan directed a production of Halley Feiffer’s Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow at the University of Michigan and a workshop production of Ryan Drake’s you don’t have to do anything. at IRT Theater in New York.
The Movement Theatre Company continued development of Eric Lockley’s Sweet Chariot through a 2-week workshop at New York Stage and Film, under the direction of Shariffa Ali.
Ryan directed workshops of Xavier Clark’s Backstroke Boys through Fault Line Theatre, Landon Braverman and Anna Jastrzembski’s new musical Captain Zuke, and Ryan Drake’s you don’t have to do anything. through Mercury Store.
Ryan served as assistant director to Tony Award-winning director Sam Gold on the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Will Arbery’s Corsicana at Playwrights Horizons.
As one of the guest artists of the Embodying Antiracism Initiative at Wesleyan University, Ryan returned to his alma mater for the 2022/2023 school year to be in conversation and collaboration with faculty, students, community members, and other guest artists to talk about transforming the institution to be more inclusive with an antiracist culture.
Ryan joined the directing team of a new adaptation of the musical The Life directed by Tony and Emmy Award-winner Billy Porter, which premiered at New York City Center through Encores! from in March.
As associate director to Trip Cullman, Ryan worked on a workshop of the late Michael Friedman’s unfinished historical musical American Pop: 1846-1923, A Songbook at the Vineyard Theatre.
Ryan continued developed on Small Fragments of Becoming, a play he co-created with Jack Spagnola with creative producer Henry Lombino, with students at NYU’s Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, after virtual development in 2021 through the University of Michigan’s Black Space Workshop.
Exercise Your Demons: a play on the trauma of a gay male body by Gage Tarlton was workshopped at Victory Gardens Theater as a part of their Ignition New Play Program Festival, with a presentation on February 19th at Hardware Strength and Conditioning, featuring direction by Ryan and movement direction by Breon Arzell.
Ryan directed a production of Caryl Churchill’s A Number at the ART/NY Theatres as a culmination of his New York Fellowship with The Drama League. It was performed in a double-bill with The Seventeenth Chapel by Aditi Breenan Kapil, directed by Reena Dutt, in February.
An Unintentional Search for Friendship by Jack Spagnola was developed and presented as a reading by Williamstown Theatre Festival, with performances by Jessica Hecht, Mark Feuerstein, and Manu Narayan under Ryan’s direction.
2021
Ryan joined the team of Diana: The Musical on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre as an associate director, working alongside Tony Award-winning director Christopher Ashley and making his Broadway debut!
Ryan directed a production of Bess Wohl’s Continuity at Fordham University, re-opening the university’s in-person mainstage production since the start of the pandemic.
Ryan directed a reading of Ry Szelong’s interra-bang at Clubbed Thumb, with a cast including Emmy Award-nominee Midori Francis, James Saito, and Cindy Cheung.
As associate director of the new musical Row by Daniel Goldstein and Dawn Landes, Ryan worked with director Tyne Rafaeli at Williamstown Theatre Festival for an outdoor world premiere over the reflecting pool at The Clark museum. At Williamstown, he was the J. Michael Friedman Directing Fellow.
The Movement Theatre Company’s production of What to Send Up When It Goes Down by Aleshea Harris, directed by Whitney White, had return engagements at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Playwrights Horizons, re-opening in-person work in both theatres.
Miranda Cornell, abigail jean-baptiste, and Ryan developed their new devised piece one of three at the Shakespeare Academy at Stratford.
Ryan was selected as one of the New York Directing Fellows at The Drama League!
Ryan developed a new play with Hart Fargo titled The Annihilation of Je$$ie: An Anthology with the evening conservatory students at the Atlantic Acting School, culminating in a Zoom presentation of the piece.
The Movement Theatre Company’s 1MOVE: DES19NED BY… projects were nominated for a 2021 Drama League Award!
Ryan directed readings of AJ Clauss’ When You Were Small and Jake Brasch’s stacey (both with Ensemble Studio Theatre) and Alyssa Haddad’s The Ancestry Dot Com Play with Art House Productions.
Ryan directed a virtual production of Jordan Harrison’s Pultizer-nominated play Marjorie Prime at NYU’s Experimental Theatre Wing as one of their mainstage productions.
Ryan developed and directed a new play by Eboni Booth titled Conference Room B with the third-year NYU Atlantic Acting School students, culminating in a virtual production.
Ryan was promoted from being an Associate Producing Artistic Leader of The Movement Theatre Company to Producing Artistic Leader, unilaterally co-running the Obie Award-winning company with David Mendizábal, Taylor Reynolds, Deadria Harrington, and Eric Lockley.
2020
As Creative Director of the 2:00am-3:00am slot of the Ars Nova 24-Hour Forever Telethon, Ryan curated, wrote, and oversaw the Ars Nova Throwback portion of the fundraiser event.
Ryan devised and directed a virtual production with the 6th graders at the Professional Performing Arts School through Waterwell, titled Break Free!
Ryan served as assistant director of the audio play version of the Audible and Williamstown Theatre Festival production Row, directed by Tyne Rafaeli.
Ryan directed a virtual reading of Ruthie Radio’s Break with Breaking & Entering Theatre Collective.
The Movement Theatre Company commissioned two rounds of 1MOVE: DES19NED BY…, giving money and resources to both immigrant and Black theatre designers, otherwise out of work during the pandemic, to create video pieces.
Ryan was selected as a member of the Directing Cohort of the 2020 24-Hour Plays: Nationals program, in which he participated in workshops and panels, and directed Maxine Dillon’s It Do Be Like That Sometimes and Sometimes Like That It Do Be for the Virtual Monologues program on Instagram, and Kiana English’s Dinner with the Parkers as the culmination of the program.
Ryan directed a virtual reading of Dipika Guha’s In the Red, White, and Blue and A Brief History of America for the Asian American Arts Alliance and American Dream Redux, featuring Purva Bedi, Lipica Shah, and Joel Perez.
Ryan directed Jack Spagnola’s You and Me and the Space Between featuring Mark Feuerstein and Michaela Watkins, for Playdate Theatre’s Find a Way or Make One Festival.
A Glance Back, Ryan’s short film, was released!
Ryan was selected as a member of Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2020-2022 Director’s Group!
Ryan directed a virtual reading of Eric Grant’s monologue Spoiled Milk for the QuaranStream Theatre Festival.
Serving as assistant director to Trip Cullman, Ryan worked on the New York-premiere of Daniel Goldstein and Michael Friedman’s musical Unknown Soldier at Playwrights Horizons.
The Movement Theatre Company’s production of What to Send Up When It Goes Down by Aleshea Harris, directed by Whitney White, returned to New York at The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, after a successful tour to D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre and Massachusetts’ American Repertory Theater.