About

Christopher Ryan has really always been an educator, and he has known from early childhood that he was a performer at heart. From teaching classes to elementary students as a middle schooler, to teaching adult professionals in masterclasses and coachings, his experience as an educator spans over two decades. Having sung his first solo at the tender age of 5, Christopher knew the stage was where he was meant to be and what he was meant to teach about.

After finishing his MFA in Acting at Regent University in 2007, Christopher taught intro to theatre, speech and costume design classes for two community colleges in the Orlando Florida area, while also working as an actor and fight director with the Orlando Rep, and dancing as a member of the modern company: Emotions Dance .

The following year, Christopher moved to Germany, where he continued his engagement as an educator, and also worked extensively as a performer (both in straight and musical theatre) throughout the European continent and in several languages, for the next eleven years.

Some highlights of his time in Europe were: directing The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged for the Rover Rep theatre in Hamburg, touring the continent playing roles like: Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Tom in The Glass Menagerie, and Anthony in Sweeney Todd, playing Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in German, choreographing the original German language production of Bridges of Madison County, and playing dream roles, like: Emcee in Cabaret, Caiaphas and Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar, Mark in RENT, and the title character in Jekyll & Hyde.

In the Summers from 2011-2014, Christopher was the Director of Musical Theatre and the Dance and Combat instructor for the "International Performing Arts Institute“, where he, together with the other faculty, trained young, talented and promising American Opera and Musical Theatre students to prepare them to work in the international Theatre market.

In the fall of 2016, Christopher finished recording his first album, Holy Night, an album of traditional Christmas songs, which was released in November of 2016.

During his time in Vienna, Austria, in addition to playing in the company of the hit musical Sister Act, Christopher taught for several schools, including Performing Center of Austria, the premiere training facility for Musical Theatre pre-professionals in all of Austria.

In 2018, as the demand for coaching, both private and in university masterclass settings, continued to grow, Christopher decided to make the move back to the US.

After relocating to the Tampa, FL area, in addition to coaching, Christopher was a company member with the Theatre for Young Audiences company: Creative Arts Theatre. In his season with the company, he designed costumes and sets, ran point on the transition from live to video content creation, and performed in various projects (including the one-actor wordless clowning play: Balloonacy), as the company found ways to continue engaging children and families with storytelling, throughout the pandemic. Christopher also performed in several cabaret performances and several mainstage shows as a company member with Opera Tampa.

Christopher is thrilled to have re-joined the other faculty and students at NKU School of the Arts (SOTA) for a second year! In the fall, he directed the first production of the season: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, to excellent reception from administration and the community, led a faculty seminar on the implementation of success practices in the classroom, taught Theatre Appreciation, and continued his academic advising work.

As a part of NKU’s Dance ‘24, he premiered Verbindung, a modern dance duet he created as an exploration of connection. He is teaching Musical Theatre Dance, II, and has launched Life as an Artist, a brand new course he created for the sophomores across all 7 degree tracks which addresses issues of self worth, mental health, self-care, wellness, self-advocacy, and goal and boundary setting, as an artist.

Christopher is currently a Panelist contributing to the selection of choreographers for the third installment of the Synergy Dance Series in the greater Cincinnati, OH area. I the summer of 2024, Christopher can be seen in the third installment of OUTLoud with Opera Tampa, and will be a guest soloist for a second time, with the Lobby Lounge Cabaret Series at the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center. He will also be teaching for the CCM Musical Theatre Workshop and for Mutual Dance’s summer study programs.