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Ryan Knowles | |
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 Ryan Knowles at 54Below, NYC. July 2022 | |
| Born | Ryan Knowles December 12, 1978 Whittier, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, Singer, Playwright, Comedian |
| Years active | 2005-present |
| Website | RyanKnowles.com |
Ryan Knowles (born December 12, 1978, in California) is an American actor, singer, comedian, writer, television host, speech coach and motivational speaker.
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(July 2022) |
Knowles was born and grew up in Orange County, California. He lives in New York City. In addition to performing, Knowles is a motivational speaker and speech and performance coach for students, politicians and business leaders.
On October 16, 2019, Knowles made his Broadway debut in The Lightning Thief , which ran at Longacre Theatre until January 5, 2020. [1] Playing 9 characters with 25 quick changes, [2] the New York Times included his performance in their "Best Of Theatre 2019" list. [3]
Off-Broadway, Knowles appeared in the award-winning topical revue NEWSical:The Musical at Theatre Row's Kirk Theatre, alongside stars Christine Pedi, Michael West, Christina Bianco, Tommy Walker and guest stars Perez Hilton, Andrea McArdle, Cheri Oteri and Carson Kressley, among others. [4]
Knowles has appeared in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall and in other projects with the Rockettes.
Knowles wrote and performed his solo show "DIG & BE DUG: The Gospel of Lord Buckley" for the Planet Connections Theatre Festival in Summer 2010. His performance as the now-forgotten jazz comedian Lord Buckley garnered critical acclaim and won Knowles the awards for "Best Solo Show" and "Best Performance in a Solo Show." [5]
In spring 2010, he starred as the perverted and tyrannical Roman Emperor Caligula in Randy Weiner's ( The Donkey Show ) and Alfred Preisser's debaucherous Caligula Maximus, [6] a new circus/musical/extravaganza at La MaMa ETC in the Ellen Stewart Theatre, to great critical acclaim.
In 2006, Knowles starred as "Prospero" in the new musical, Tempest at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City. He adapted the text from Shakespeare's original and co-wrote the book with Daniel Neiden, working from a concept by Tony-winning book writer Thomas Meehan.
Knowles appeared in the New York premiere of the new mystery Hound portraying Sherlock Holmes, a role which won him the award for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor [7] at the Planet Connections Theatre Festival.
In 2005, he starred as "Nick Bottom" for over a year of performances at the Manhattan Ensemble Theatre in Soho in the hit 1950's-style musical version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Fools In Love . [8]
Prior to playing Broadway, Knowles played the same roles in the First National Tour of The Lightning Thief for 9 months. [2]
Knowles spent a year on the North American leg of the 2013/2014 World Tour of We Will Rock You . the worldwide smash-hit musical by Queen and Ben Elton. Knowles originated the role of "Buddy," a lovable stoner in the vein of Cheech & Chong; a cross between Hans Solo and Willie Nelson, a Bohemian Rebel Leader, for the wonderfully silly, futuristic rock saga. Ben Elton, the book writer, and director of the production, wrote the part in rehearsals to be tailor-made for Knowles. [2]
Knowles performed in the North American tours of the Broadway production of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in 2011 and 2010, playing the role of "Grandpa Who" and "Grinch u/s."
In winter 2009, Knowles toured the country in Todrick Hall's Oz the Musical as "Brenda," the "Wicked Witch of the West Side," alongside Vonzell Solomon of American Idol, Aundrea Fimbres of Danity Kane, and Orlando Brown of Disney's That's So Raven .
Knowles has written stand-up, sketch comedies, short stories, 6 plays and 2 musicals, including "DIG & BE DUG: The Gospel of Lord Buckley," "Nick Bottom's Extravaganza!," "The Tempest: The Musical.”
In 2006, Knowles was brought on as the Host of Nickelodeon's daily live show ME:TV.
In 2008, Knowles filmed his first feature, Camp Hell , [9] a supernatural thriller from Holedigger Films. The film also stars Academy Award-nominee Bruce Davison, Emmy-winner Dana Delany and Jesse Eisenberg. The film had a 2011 theatrical release.
In addition to performing, Knowles is a speech coach and political consultant. He has worked as a speechwriter and debate/vocal coach for numerous local and state candidates nationwide. Also, Knowles is one of the country's foremost consultants in Speech and Interpretive Performance for competitive high school students. He is employed by a number of top high school programs, both public and private, on both coasts. Knowles is the co-founder (with David Kraft) of Interprod Performance Studies Institute in Boston, Massachusetts; a summer intensive program for gifted young performers. This line of work was inspired by Knowles' success as a high school and collegiate speech and debate competitor, during which time he won numerous State and National Championships, as well as becoming the first American in history to win a World Championship at the 2000 World Universities Debate Association Championship Tournament at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. [10]
Elizabeth Vincentelli wrote in The New York Times "Best of Theatre 2019": "The Lighting Thief harbors a hilarious gem — or rather many, all courtesy of Ryan Knowles. Perched on long, angular legs, Knowles handles several parts in grand Looney Tunes style. What’s most striking is his vocal versatility: He can go down to chthonic depths when playing a centaur, for instance, yet for Hades, he models his grandiosely arch line readings after Paul Lynde’s. [3] "
Dan Aucoin wrote in the Boston Globe: "But my favorite in the cast is the deep-voiced, utterly hilarious Ryan Knowles. I’m sure none of the young people inside the Huntington Avenue Theatre know who Lynde was, but [his voice] cracked me up. I guess “The Lightning Thief’’ has something for everybody. [11] "
The New Yorker writes: "The rubber-limbed, vocally dexterous Ryan Knowles, in multiple roles, [is] a scene-stealer of the highest order. [12] "
Théoden Janes wrote in the Charlotte Observer: "Knowles is a chameleonic standout who threatens to steal the show! [13] "
Em Skow wrote in DC Metro: "[A] scene stealer every time he stepped, wheeled, or galloped on stage. His remarkable range of intricately-layered personas were fascinating to watch unfold and were always perfectly balanced on the edge of ridiculous and delightful, for adults and kids alike. [13]
Tim Smith wrote in the Baltimore Sun: "Ryan Knowles steals the show time and again with his comic sparks as Buddy, a fuzzy-headed Bohemian. [14] "
Dan Aucoin wrote in the Boston Globe: "Ryan Knowles delivers a standout performance. [12]
Clifford Johnson III wrote in Backstage , "[The Producers] wisest decision is in the casting of Ryan Knowles. He carries the entire production on his slim shoulders, imbuing [it] with charisma, intelligence, tenderness, and a sense of irony." [15]
Dan Bacalzo wrote on TheatreMania.com, "Knowles takes control of the stage...[he] has a dynamic presence and an appropriately seedy charisma. He also has a deep baritone which he utilizes to good effect." [16]
Mark Roberson writes on NYTheatre.com, "Ryan Knowles is perfect. Made up as a Jagger-Hedwig hybrid, Knowles moves between his songs and speeches with ease, hitting all the right moments. We are enthralled..with him, and always interested." [17]
Jason Clark writes in Slant Magazine, "Playing the titular self-created deity with a cheeky, pervy, party-boy hauteur, not unlike Cabaret's furtive Emcee, the brave, highly attention-catching Ryan Knowles lords over a most unruly evening." [18]
Lauren Wissot writes on TheatreOnline.com, "The Mick Jagger-resembling Ryan Knowles [is] a charismatic performer who has both played villains and done time as a Nickelodeon TV show host...[He] is one big, punk rock smackdown answer to sissy hippie 'Hair.'" [19]
Mark Blankenship wrote in Variety: "For sheer solo star power, however, no one tops Ryan Knowles as Bottom. The dexterity in his voice is astonishing, gliding from a twitter to wall-shattering thunder. His body contorts into countless postures of clownish arrogance without signs of effort. His fluidity and precision make him captivating to watch, suggesting he has a major career in the making." [20]
The New Yorker proclaimed: “Ryan Knowles steals the show with his braying, rubber-limbed portrayal of the vainglorious Bottom. His thundering voice, relentless moue-making, and mammoth charisma are a cartoony cocktail of Jim Carrey and Snagglepuss, with a little speed thrown in.”
Barbara and Scott Siegel wrote Theatermania.com: "Ryan Knowles is simply a dynamo of talent as Bottom; a combination of a young Peter O'Toole and Jim Carrey, he can seemingly do anything with his voice and his body...[A performer] so electric that you know you are catching [a] future star early in [his] career." [21]
Mark Dundas Wood wrote in Backstage: “You’ll have to stop to applaud the gifted Ryan Knowles, perhaps the lankiest actor ever to play the role of Bottom. Knowles has a voice that fairly booms and a face that stretches like Dubble Bubble. He seems to have stepped out of lost footage from cartoonist Tex Avery.”
Hello, Dolly! is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1954. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder.
David Hyde Pierce is an American actor. Known for his portrayal of psychiatrist Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier from 1993 to 2004, he received four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series as well as two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Pierce has also received five Golden Globe Awards nominations for Best Supporting Actor for the role. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role of Lt. Frank Cioffi in the Broadway musical Curtains (2007).
Stephen Flaherty is an American composer of musical theatre and film. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/book writer Lynn Ahrens. They are best known for writing the Broadway musicals Ragtime, which was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and won the Tony for Best Original Score; Once on This Island, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, the Olivier Award for London's Best Musical, and was nominated for a Grammy Award and eight Tony Awards; and Seussical, which was nominated for the Grammy Award. Flaherty was also nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for his songs and song score for the animated film musical Anastasia.
George Harvey Presnell was an American actor and singer. He began his career in the mid-1950s as a classical baritone, singing with orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States.
Robert Alan Morse was an American actor. Morse, known for his gap-toothed boyishness, started his career as a star on Broadway acting in musicals and plays before expanding into film and television. He earned numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Roger Bart is an American actor and singer. He won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Snoopy in the 1999 revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Euan Douglas George Morton is a British actor and singer from Borrowstounness, Scotland. He is best known for his role as Boy George in the musical Taboo, receiving nominations for the Laurence Olivier Award and Tony Award for his performance. He played the role of King George in the musical Hamilton on Broadway from July 2017 to 10 September 2023.
Francis Jue is an American actor and singer. Jue is known for his performances on Broadway, in national tours, off-Broadway and in regional theatre, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area and at The Muny in St. Louis. His roles in plays and musicals range from Shakespeare to Rodgers and Hammerstein to Disney to David Henry Hwang. He is also known for his recurring role on the TV series Madam Secretary (2014–2019).
Gerard Alessandrini is an American playwright, parodist, actor and theatre director best known for creating the award-winning off-Broadway musical theatre parody revue Forbidden Broadway. He is the recipient of Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, an Obie Award, four Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and two Lucille Lortel Awards, as well as the Drama League Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.
Leave It to Me! is a 1938 musical produced by Vinton Freedley with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book was a collaborative effort by Samuel and Bella Spewack, the former of whom also directed the Broadway production. The musical was based on the play Clear All Wires by the Spewacks, which was performed on Broadway for 93 performances in 1932, and which was filmed in 1933, starring Lee Tracy, Benita Hume, Una Merkel and James Gleason.
Stewart F. Lane is a Broadway producer, director, playwright and former actor. He has also written books, including Let's Put on a Show! and Jews of Broadway. He has also produced in Dublin. In addition to publishing two plays, he has directed across the country, working with Stephen Baldwin, Shannen Doherty, Chazz Palminteri, and more. He is co-owner of the Palace Theatre (Broadway) with the Nederlander Organization and a partner in the Tribeca Grill with Robert De Niro, Sean Penn and Mikhail Baryshnikov. He has written three books: Let's Put on a Show!, Jews on Broadway: An Historical Survey of Performers, Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Producers, and Black Broadway: African Americans on the Great White Way.
Colman Jason Domingo is an American actor, playwright, and director. Prominent on both screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, and nominations for an Academy Award, and two Tony Awards. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2024.
The Cocoanuts is a musical with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and a book by George S. Kaufman, with additional text by Morrie Ryskind.
Teal Wicks is an American singer and stage actress, who is best known for her performances as Elphaba in the Broadway, San Francisco, and Los Angeles productions of the musical Wicked and as Mary Barrie in the musical Finding Neverland.
George Ernest Salazar is an American actor, singer, and musician known for his work on and off-Broadway. He made his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of Stephen Schwartz's Godspell. Salazar originated the role of Michael Mell in the 2015 musical Be More Chill and performed in the musical's 2018 Off-Broadway and Broadway in 2019 at the Lyceum Theater in New York City. He originated the role of Grover in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical and starred in Pasadena Playhouse's production of Little Shop of Horrors as Seymour Krelborn.
Chris McCarrell is an American theater and television actor and singer. He is best known for portraying Marius Pontmercy in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables, and for originating the titular character in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical in its Off-Broadway premiere, 2019 tour, and Broadway production.
Witness Uganda is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews. It was based on the true story of Matthews' humanitarian trips to Uganda, and his work to fund his nonprofit organization, Uganda Project. The musical premiered under the title Witness Uganda on February 4, 2014 at Cambridge's American Repertory Theater, and ran through March 16, 2014. Under the title Invisible Thread, the show transferred to off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre in a production which ran during December 2015.
Alexander Michael Brightman is an American actor and singer, best known for his work in musical theatre.
The Lightning Thief is a musical with music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki and a book by Joe Tracz, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Rick Riordan. The musical follows Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old boy who newly discovers that he is a demigod and goes on a quest to find Zeus' missing lightning bolt and prevent a war between the Greek gods.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a jukebox musical with a book by John Logan. The musical is based on the 2001 film Moulin Rouge! directed by Baz Luhrmann and written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce.
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