Ryan Scott Oliver (born August 27, 1984) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. He is a 2011

Lucille Lortel Lucille Lortel (née Wadler, December 16, 1900 – April 4, 1999) was an American actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer. In the course of her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly 500 plays, five of which were nominated for ...

Award Nominee and the recipient of both the 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant and the 2008 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater. Oliver is an adjunct professor at Pace University in New York, and Artistic Director of the Pasadena Musical Theatre Program in California. He received his B.A. in Music Composition from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and his M.F.A. in Musical Theatre Writing from the

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He is also the creator of the blog ''Crazytown'' and a member of

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

. Oliver's work has been performed at the Writers Guild Awards,

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in TheatreWorksUSA's ''We the People'', and in countless showcases. Ryan, along with actress

Lindsay Mendez Lindsay Michelle Mendez (born March 1, 1981) is an American actress and singer, best known for her work in American musical theatre. She won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Carrie Pipperidge in a ...

, founded and currently runs Actor Therapy; a five-week training experience for young actors in NYC. He is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and is married to photographer Matthew Murphy.

Early life

Oliver was born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

and his interest in musicals began at 9 years old when he joined a local summer musical theater camp. In 2004, Oliver took over the program as Artistic Director and renamed it the Pasadena Musical Theatre Program. Oliver also attended the

Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA, ) is a visual and performing arts high school located on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is a public school, ...

Works

''Mrs. Sharp''

''Mrs. Sharp'', with music and lyrics by Oliver and book by Kirsten Guenther, is loosely based on the 1991 teacher-student sex scandal and murder trial surrounding Pamela Smart. The musical was first performed at NYU in 2007 under the direction of Ryan Mekenian with

Alex Brightman Alexander Michael Brightman (born February 5, 1987) is an American actor and singer, best known for his work in musical theatre. In 2015, he originated the role of Dewey Finn in the musical adaptation of ''School of Rock'', earning him a nomin ...

, Scott Evans, and Ali Stroker in the cast. Additional performances of the work included an

concert featuring music direction by

Alex Lacamoire Alex Lacamoire (born May 24, 1975) is a Cuban-American composer, arranger, conductor, musical director, music copyist, and orchestrator who has worked on many shows both on and off-Broadway. He is the recipient of multiple Tony and Grammy A ...

and a presentation at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, also directed by Mekenian. ''Mrs. Sharp'' was ultimately given a staged reading at

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit American Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. ...

in 2009 directed by

Michael Greif Michael Greif (born ca. 1960 in Brooklyn, New YorkWelsh, Anne Marie, "New York and family call Michael Greif home", ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'', October 10, 1999, p.E-1) is an American stage director. He has won three Obie Awards and received ...

with

Jane Krakowski Jane Krakowski (; ; born October 11, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She starred as Jenna Maroney in the NBC satirical comedy series ''30 Rock'' (2006–2013, 2020), for which she received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Out ...

as the title character. Playwright Horizons described ''Mrs. Sharp'' as:

''Darling''

''Darling'', conceived by Brett Ryback and with the book, music and lyrics by Oliver, is a dark retelling of J.M. Barrie's

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

. It follows sixteen year-old Darling in 1920s New England, and her adventures with Peter, a rent-boy. With him, she explores the seedy underground world of drugs, sex, and a white powder called Dust. ''Darling'' was featured on the "Bound for Broadway" episode of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's '' The Apprentice'' in 2010, and was presented by Pace New Musicals Program in 2009, and in 2012, was given a private workshop and developmental production as a collaboration between Retrop Production and RareWorks Theatre Company, in association with

Sh-K-Boom Records Sh-K-Boom Records is an independent record label and producer of recorded and live entertainment, which was founded in 2000 by Kurt Deutsch with the mission of bridging the gap between pop music and theater. In 2004 Sh-K-Boom created their seco ...

, at Emerson College. In 2013, ''Darling'' received The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company New Musical Award. In 2019, a staged reading of "Darling" was performed at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.

''35MM''

''35MM'', a multimedia "musical exhibition" in which photographic images by Oliver in collaboration with his partner Matthew Murphy inspire music and lyrics, and inversely music and lyrics inspire photographs, is preserved as an original cast recording by the Ghostlight label. A full developmental production was presented at Urban Stages in December 2010, directed by Daisy Prince. ''35MM ''made its Off-Broadway World Premiere at the Galapagos Art Space in New York City on March 7, 2012 starring

. Due to popular demand, the show was extended and sold out its run. ''35MM'' is currently being licensed and has received productions in Baltimore, Maryland; Dayton, Ohio; London; and Canada in 2013. In June 2015, it made its Australian premiere in the inaugural season of Hayward Street's Incubator Series in Brisbane, Queensland.

''Jasper in Deadland''

'' Jasper in Deadland'' is a pop-rock musical based on the myth of

Orpheus and Eurydice In Greek mythology, the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice () concerns the pitiful love of Orpheus of Thrace, located in northeastern Greece, for the beautiful Eurydice. Orpheus was the son of Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope. It may be a late addition ...

. It follows 16-year-old Jasper Jarvis as he travels through the Afterlife on a mission to save his best friend, Agnes.'' Jasper in Deadland'' was commissioned in 2011 for the Pasadena Musical Theatre Program, and premiered as part of the Los Angeles Festival of New Musicals. In 2014 it was produced by Prospect Theater Company at the West End Theatre in New York City starring Matt Doyle, Ben Crawford, Allison Scagliotti, and Bonnie Milligan and directed by Brandon Ivie. In 2015, it had a tryout at the

5th Avenue Theatre The 5th Avenue Theatre is a landmark theatre located in the Skinner Building, in the downtown core of Seattle, Washington, United States. It has hosted a variety of theatre productions and motion pictures since it opened in 1926. The building ...

in Seattle, Washington, with Matt Doyle, Sydney Shepherd, and Louis Hobson and directed by Brandon Ivie. In February 2016 at Studio 54 a CD release concert was held starring Matt Doyle and Sydney Shepard. The CD was released in May 2016.

''We Foxes''

''We Foxes'', a Southern Gothic Thriller set in Missouri, 1945, is a new project started commissioned by

Broadway Across America Broadway Across America (BAA) is a presenter and producer of live theatrical events in the United States and Canada since 1982. It is currently owned by the John Gore Organization (formerly Key Brand Entertainment), which purchased it from Live ...

. ''We Foxes'' tells about Willa, a tough and unmannered orphan girl adopted by the Sheriff’s Wife, a calculating socialite, and the bloody domestic war that ensues between them when the girl uncovers the terrible secrets lurking beneath the floorboards. Oliver attended the TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Writer's Retreat in April 2013 for ''We Foxes''. This show was also featured at CAP 21 and the Weston Playhouse.

Other works

*''Music+Lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver: Vol. I'': Oliver's first songbook, published by

Hal Leonard Hal Leonard LLC (formerly Hal Leonard Corporation) is an American music publishing and distribution company founded in Winona, Minnesota, by Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother, Everett "Leonard" Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker. Curre ...

. * ''The Frog Prince Continued'', commissioned by Chicago's Emerald City Theatre * ''Rated RSO'': A collection of Oliver's work which has been performed at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

, New York Musical Theatre Festival, Joe's Pub,

Pace University Pace University is a private university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, United States. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about ...

, and Boston Court Performing Arts Center *''Circle 9: a One-Act Musical'': Music by Brian Valencia, book and lyrics by Oliver *''Angus Oblong's The Debbies, A Ten Minute Musical'': Music by Oliver and book and lyrics by Gordon Leary, inspired by characters from Angus Oblong's '' Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children'' and ''

The Oblongs ''The Oblongs'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Angus Oblong and Jace Richdale. It was Mohawk Productions' first venture into animation. The series premiered on April 1, 2001, on The WB, and was cancelled due to low ratings on ...

'' *''Out of my Head, A Musical Revue'': Music and lyrics by Oliver, book by Kirsten Guenther *''Quit India'': Book, music, and lyrics by B.T. Ryback and Oliver, is a musical retelling of the opera ''

Lakmé ''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the '' Opéra-Comique'' at the (second) Salle Fa ...

Awards

*2013 The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company New Musical Award (for ''Darling'') * 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant Recipient *2008 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater Winner (for ''Mrs. Sharp'') *2007

Foundation

Harold Adamson Harold Campbell Adamson (December 10, 1906 – August 17, 1980)Larkin, pp. 41-42 was an American lyricist from the 1930s through the 1960s. Early life Adamson, the son of building contractor Harold Adamson and Marion "Minnie" Campbell Adamson, ...

Lyric Award Recipient *2007

Margo Lion Margo Allison Lion (October 13, 1944 – January 24, 2020) was a producer for plays and musicals both on Broadway and off-Broadway, known for her role in producing the stage and screen hit ''Hairspray''. Combined, the works Lion produced won 20 ...

Award for Excellence in Adaptation for ''Alive at Ten'' with Kristen Guenther *2007 Dramatist Guild Fellowship

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Ryan Scott Living people 1984 births American musical theatre composers American male musical theatre composers Songwriters from California Tisch School of the Arts alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Musicians from Pasadena, California Los Angeles County High School for the Arts alumni