Ryah Nixon: Home Town Girl Comes Home | Arts & Culture

The Dolly Parton-written musical, 9 to 5: The Musical, tours to and opens at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre on Tuesday, April 5th. It should closely mirror the hit movie of the same name that starred Dolly, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. 

It’s also a home-coming for a local performer who was able to take advantage of a huge chunk of our local children’s theater education during her young life. 24-year-old Ryah Nixon is not only a touring member of the ensemble, she’s also the understudy for the role of Doralee, the role that Dolly was famous for playing.

“I’ve gone on (as Doralee) about ten times so far,” Ryah says. Ryah’s parents, Cheryl and Jimmy Nixon, have gone to a number of cities to see their little girl perform.

It’s no real surprise that Ryah is a performer. Her parents met in New York City when they performed together in an Off-Broadway show!

“We moved to Seattle in 1996 when I was in third grade,” Ryah says. “I was born in New York City on the Upper East Side, and when I was two, we moved to California because my dad was in television and film.” Jimmy Nixon did a long stint on Candid Camera.

After adding a boy to the family, too much travel took its toll on Jimmy and the family decided to relocate to Seattle. Ryah started going to BF Day Elementary School and there was no after school program, so the Nixons started a drama program, which evolved over time to what has become Broadway Bound.

Ryah says that there was never any other thought in her mind than to become a musical theater performer. She explains that the only music ever played at home were full cast albums from musicals such as Les Miserables and Scarlett Pimpernel.

“I have a recording of me singing Tomorrow (from Annie) in a record studio when I was three years old. By the time I was three, my parents knew I wanted to be on Broadway. I never went through phases or experimented with other areas of interest. I’ve always wanted to do theater for a living.

“(And) because I was able to get work, and get cast in shows, and get into Carnegie Mellon, there was a path for me in this field, green-lighting me into feeling like this was probably what I could make a living doing.”

She laughs that there was a period when having her dad as her drama coach felt a little less than thrilling. “When I was in my angsty pre-teenage years, it was my worst nightmare.”

Ryah went to Roosevelt High School and was taught by noted drama teacher, Ruben Van Kempen, and started attending Kidstage at the Village Theatre in Issaquah, where she participated in musicals in the summer. “Footloose was my first show at Village and after that, I did Little Shop of Horrors and after that, they started asking me to do the Festival shows (Festival of New Musicals) and then I went away to college.”

College meant acting or musical theater conservatories. Conservatories meant auditioning. Auditioning meant going to Unified Auditions in Chicago. “That’s where all the schools come to one location in one hotel and all the kids fly in from all over the country for three or four days. That way you don’t have to fly all over the country to go to different schools,” Ryah says.

“As soon as I went to the audition for Carnegie Mellon, I knew this was the school I had to get into. It was solidified when I went and visited the program in Pittsburgh. I was blown away and couldn’t believe I was accepted. My class was three girls and eight boys. The odds of getting in were so selective that I’m still grateful beyond belief that I was accepted.”

Ryah’s schedule at college was so busy that everyone has times where they get overwhelmed. “(Aside from the normal acting classes,) we took voice lessons, and dance every day. And you had to take some general education requirements on top of our conservatory classes. At night we were participating in shows and starting over again at 9:00a.m. after finishing at 1:00a.m. the night before!”

But she, “Loved it. The people that I got to work with and faculty – half of my class is already in a national tour or starring on Broadway. We’re very lucky.”

Village Theatre called offering summer work. “Village asked me to play Princess Amneris in Aida on the mainstage. It was my mainstage debut which was daunting since it was one of the three leads.” It was the end of junior year and Ryah still has to attend classes during rehearsal. “I took no time off. Village flew me in Friday nights to Sundays and I rehearsed only on weekends and flew back to Pittsburgh. That was my last three weeks of junior year of college!”

One of the benefits of doing that mainstage production was qualifying to become a member of Actors’ Equity, the union. Ryah is grateful that Village helped her qualify. “It’s a huge thing for an actor moving to New York to have your Equity card.”

Ryah’s intention was always to move to New York City after college. “I’ve loved it forever,” she says. In Summer 2009, Ryah auditioned in a “showcasing” process in front of casting directors and agents in New York and Los Angeles.

“It’s two days of putting on a show where you get to show the industry what you’re all about. Which is hard because nobody is one dimensional, and (you) have more than one trick up your sleeve, but you have to figure out how you think you’ll be used most in the industry and build your 2 ½ minute audition around that and make yourself sellable,” Ryah explains.

Ryah was successful enough that she was able to get agents in both New York and Los Angeles. Her New York agent “was gung ho about getting me out into the world” when she moved to New York.

“Immediately after school I found a sublet and did a workshop for a new musical, Fat Camp, which is from the producers of Rock of Ages and was in New York Musical Theatre Festival. It was the hit of that year’s festival. I don’t know where it’s going now.

“Then that winter, I came back to Village to do Meet Me in St. Louis (Esther, the Judy Garland role, and the lead character). It was the biggest blessing, but it was such a big role. She’s onstage almost the whole time. Every time I sang those Judy Garland songs, I felt like I can’t believe I’m getting the opportunity to do this.”

Back in New York, Ryah won a role in an Off-Broadway ‘straight’ play – no singing: Laurette in Lillian Hellman’s Another Part of the Forest. “It was a blast,” Ryah says. “I have a love for straight plays and would love to do that again. It’s cool to do a few musicals and a classic straight play.”

As soon as she started rehearsals, Ryah found out that her auditions for 9 to 5 were successful and she was going to understudy Doralee on the national tour. “I had auditioned over a three week process for first the casting director and then the entire creative team. I knew I was auditioning for the Dolly Parton role. I had seen it on Broadway and had hoped one day to do that role.”

Ryah describes meeting Dolly Parton. “On the first day of rehearsal, she came in. She’s literally pint sized. She took pictures. She was the sweetest person. And the second day she sang 9 to 5 with us and it was everyone’s dream come true. You forget because she’s so down to earth. I couldn’t believe that she was at rehearsal giving us Dolly fudge and treating us like we’re her kids.”

Ryah performs in the ensemble every night and now has a new responsibility. “I also understudy the Jane Fonda role,” Ryah reports. “That’s a recent addition. I’ve never learned both sides of a conversation, before. It’s a good acting exercise!”

Ryah says, “I’m excited to get to perform on the 5th Avenue stage. I’ve seen shows there growing up. We’re here for three weeks so it’s our longest city run. I talk about Seattle all the time. I’m excited for friends and other family to see the show.”

“Every time it becomes a day-in-and-day-out job, I remind myself that when I was little, everything I wanted to do is what I’m getting to do. Getting paid to be on stage and working with Dolly Parton is any little girl’s dream.”