Your Creativity. Your Career. Your Terms.

So often as performers we look at our careers as if it is in someone else hands. Waiting to book the job, to be validated, to receive a glowing review to help raise our profile in the industry.

Theatre Artist Ryan G. Hinds is joining the conversation on Cue To Cue today and he is busting a few myths and addressing mindset gaps that performers, including himself, can fall into from time to time. When Ryan said these four words, “ My career. My terms.” I was waiting for confetti to fall from the ceiling, music to start playing, and Bob Barker to appear saying, “Tell him what he has won, Rod!”  Ryan hits the nail on the head. It is our responsibility as artists to get out there and create. Stop waiting for the phone to ring. Get educated on what you need to know about this business, the craft, so as to not be taken advantage of and get going!

I was inspired by Ryan and I know you will be too!

In this episode:

• How to avoid becoming all consumed by the biz
• Why having a mentorship
• The questions Chita Rivera asked him that helped him shaped the way he looked at his career
• How his one-man Cabaret grew from a one-time performance to in internationally toured Cabaret.
• Why you MUST learn to not take things personally in this business!
• How to be humble without it getting in the way of allowing yourself to shine!

A little about Ryan:

Ryan G. Hinds is a Toronto-based theatre artist: actor, singer, dancer, writer, director, producer, curator. Currently, he is an Associate Artist at lemonTree Creations and an Artscape Launchpad Ambassador. He is the 2018 of the Stage West – Canadian Actor’s Equity Emerging Artist Award, and he recently played Brit in the North American Regional Premier of We Will Rock You (Magnus Theatre). Notably, Ryan is one of only a few people to have been in both the movie version (as a Hed-head) and a stage production (as Hedwig, becoming the first black actor to play the role) of Hedwig & the Angry Inch. His solo show #KanderAndEbb” has toured internationally to critical and audience acclaim, winning the BroadwayWorld Award for Best Cabaret/Solo Concert and playing to a packed house at legendary venue Don’t Tell Mama in New York City. In 2015 his show “Starry Notions” was a Toronto Fringe Festival hit, recognized with several ‘Best of Fringe’ and ‘Outstanding Performance’ citations.

From 2014 to 2016, Ryan was an Artist-In-Residence at Buddies in Bad Times (the world’s largest and oldest LGBTQ theatre complex). His other theatre work includes assisting director Brendan Healy on Anusree Roy’s Little Pretty & the Exceptional at Factory Theatre; the original company, remount, and subsequent tour of lemonTree Creations’ dance-theatre hybrid “MSM
[ men seeking men]”; and creating and performing ”MacArthur Park Suite: A Disco Ballet” with Nicole Rose Bond. Festival work includes sold-out performances at Just For Laughs in Montreal (2013 and 2014), LA Pride (opening for Mya and Macy Gray), along with headlining appearances at venues in Los Angeles (Pehrspace), Vancouver (Sunset Beach Festival), and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (Carnival 2012). Ryan’s 2008 Nuit Blanche collaboration with Will Munro and Ina unt Ina set an attendance Record at the AGO, and in 2012 he was invited back to work with Douglas Coupland on Museum of the Rapture. He has performed with artists such as Liza Minnelli, Todrick Hall, Debbie Reynolds, Lady Bunny, and Sky Gilbert, and has appeared in commercials for brands including OLG, Pop Secret, Angie’s List, Schick razors, and more.

Ryan’s long association with Pride Toronto has included hosting the 2015 opening ceremonies, performing an hour-long concert for an audience of 4000 at World Pride 2014, and several years as emcee of Blockorama (the annual celebration of our LGBTQ black and Caribbean communities). From 2005 until 2010, Ryan co-founded and co-operated The ARTWHERK! Collective, a multi-disciplinary art collective which made space and provided opportunities to young and emerging LGBTQ artists in gallery, performance, and club spaces.

As a writer, Ryan served as Editor of CrewMagazine.com, and for 5 years, his column “Toronto at Night” was a popular feature of the newspaper Xtra!. His popular live talk show ran for a year and a half at the Flying Beaver, and he is the former curator of the weekly queer performance salon Granny Boots at the Gladstone Hotel. He co-hosted six annual editions of the Feminist Porn Awards, and is featured in Vivek Shraya’s film and book “What I Love About Being Queer”; the portraiture book “Human Canvas Project”, and the inaugural edition of “10×10”, for which he was photographed by Tanja-Tiziana. Throughout his career, he has prioritized finding ways to make theatre/ arts & culture opportunities easier to access for emerging artists, creating stories that could bring to the forefront both artists of color and LGBTQ artists, and balancing a consistent commitment to equality and diversity paired with an equally consistent commitment to artistic excellence. More at RyanGHinds.com

Follow Ryan!

Instagram: @ryanghinds

Facebook: Ryan G. Hinds

Twitter: @ryanghinds

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