Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Omar Stack.
Hi Ryan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Well, the poetics state that all good stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end… but that seems excessive for an interview, so let’s just start in Act 2: After graduating from a small liberal arts college with a degree in International Business, I moved from St. Louis to Denver to pursue opportunities in the tech world. At the time I considered my theater minor something of a hobby. I had always been interested in the craft of acting, but I was never confident I would succeed professionally. When I was about to join the workforce I grappled heavily with the practicality of working as an artist. People would say things like “Yeah, but there’s so many actors already.” Or “nobody makes any money doing that.” So I heeded the warnings and spent about 5-years working as an analyst, creating B2B solutions for companies struggling with customer retention (which I realize makes very little sense to most people reading this, myself included). While I enjoyed the problem-solving of my work, I found myself creatively underwhelmed. After 5-years, I realized that my passion and enjoyment for theater and film remained, but my outlet no longer existed. Ok, so why not just take a class to satisfy that urge? A quick DuckDuckGo search led me to The Denver Center for the Performing Arts Education: the remaining program of what used to be a nationally renowned conservatory. Previously an MFA program, the DCPA Education is now expertly run with the same structure as the original National Theatre Conservatory (NTC). To the credit of Allison Watrous, Tim McCracken, and many others, the program is now something of a masters degree without the degree. Not only was my artistic urge fueled, it continued to grow. With the guidance and encouragement of my teachers, friends, and family, I stepped away from my career in business. “It’s now or never,” I thought. So I took the leap and have been incredibly lucky to continue working professionally for over 8-years. Work begets work… from small parts in non-equity houses in Denver, to regional Shakespeare festivals, to joining the Actors Equity Association, to auditioning for opportunities nationwide. It’s been a strange journey but I have a strong appreciation for everything that led me to this point in my life. I love that I’m able to bring a different mindset and background to my work, and I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned, learning more, and continuing to create great art with others.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest challenges were probably financial & mental. From a very young age, my parents were adamant about keeping a job, so I was unfamiliar with the inconsistencies of work that come from being an actor. Aside from the practicality (how will I afford anything?), there’s a discipline that’s required when you’re an independent contractor. Especially in smaller markets, where you’re not working with representation for theater or film projects, the onus falls on the artist. That means every day is a job search. It’s a challenging habit to build, but without it, you can feel very defeated (learned that the hard way).
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What I love doing most is both classical and contemporary stage plays. My training stems from the theory that an actor who can perform classical work can translate their knowledge and work into any other genre of acting that exists (i.e. If you can perform Shakespeare, or even the Greeks, you can utilize that knowledge to access less challenging text). The challenge of classical work is what makes it enjoyable, but I also connect heavily with the naturalism and realism of contemporary work because it’s so relatable (thank you Anton Chekov). This year I’ll be spending more time with on-camera acting and filmmaking. I’m currently in pre-production for a short film I wrote that I plan to submit to festivals around the country.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
For creativity and storytelling, I recommend A Swim In The Pond In The Rain by George Saunders. For filmmaking, I recommend Making Movies by Sydney Lumet. For acting, I honestly cannot narrow down a single approach, so I suggest learning from all the greats. Here are a few of my favorites: An Actor Prepares (Stanislavski), Sanford Meisner On Acting (Meisner), Respect For Acting (Uta Hagen), Audition (Michael Shurtleff), & Playing Shakespeare (John Barton). I also think life-experience is one of the most useful skills of an actor. Read about other topics, listen to different variations of storytelling, travel to other places and talk to people both near and far to you. Those experiences will help you understand the people that make up our society, and that knowledge can be incredibly helpful in the rehearsal room.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ryanomarstack.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omarstack/
