Cast interview: Ryan Carroll

The Grand Duke is opening soon, and we are getting excited to bring you this super fun show! We're also excited about our newest cast interview with Ryan Carroll - check it out!

Name
Ryan Carroll

What's your role in The Grand Duke?
Dr. Tannhäuser, a Notary

What made you decide to get involved with The Grand Duke?
I've always had a deep appreciation for the musical talent of Gilbert and Sullivan. Sullivan's rich sense of musicality and Gilberts appreciation for absurdity resulted in so many weirdly wonderful works. The Grand Duke, though perhaps less successful during its time, does not disappoint on either front. It is the kind of ridiculousness you come to expect from them, and it's paired with incredibly exciting and charming music. I always said if a posting for the show ever came up near me, I would audition. It did, I did, and I could not be happier.

What are you enjoying most about working on The Grand Duke with VLOC?
There are not many works that challenge singers and actors like those of Gilbert and Sullivan. This production features so many talented singers and gives me the chance to work on some excitingly difficult music. 

What is your dream role/job?
I am lucky enough to say that I have found my dream job, working as a music therapist and providing group music psychotherapy for mental health consumers in the Washington, DC area. If I were to have chosen a different path in life though, I think I would probably be baking bread and pastries in a small community bakery. As for a dream role, I am still hoping to one day join a production of Andersson and Ulvaeus "Chess".

What is the first musical/opera/play you ever saw and what effect did it have on you?
I grew up watching home taped copies of The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins on repeat, the performing my own versions of them for any family member who stood still long enough. It was not until I was older that I saw my first staged show. I am not entirely sure, but my best guess is that it was most likely A Christmas Carol.

When you're not performing in community theatre, what do you do? (job, hobby, family, etc.)
I work as a music therapist and serve as the director of music training at a general adult and forensic psychiatric hospital in Washington, D.C. In addition to my clinical work, I have had the opportunity to present my research on cultural competent mental health care and the use of music to increase psychiatric insight.   In 2006, I worked with the Sister of Charity at Seton Hill University to co-found the Seton Art Service Corp, an organization designed to bring the art, theater, music, and dance to underserved youth in the Greater Pittsburgh Area. 

Thanks, Ryan! Tickets for The Grand Duke are on sale now - you only have 2 chances to see this semi-staged concert production! Call the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre box office at 240-314-8690 or go online HERE. We hope to see you at a show!

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