Ryan McCartan | |
Birth Name: | Ryan Jerome McCartan |
Birth Date: | 14 June 1993 |
Birth Place: | Excelsior, Minnesota, U.S. |
Years Active: | 2011–present |
Ryan Jerome McCartan[1] (born June 14, 1993[2] [3]) is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Jason "J.D." Dean in the original Off-Broadway cast of . His Broadway credits include playing Fiyero Tigelaar in the 15th anniversary cast of Wicked and Prince Hans in the closing cast of Frozen.
McCartan starred as Brad Majors in the 2016 Fox musical television film . He also played the recurring role of Diggie Smalls on the Disney Channel sitcom Liv and Maddie.
McCartan was born in Excelsior, Minnesota. His father, Conn McCartan, was the principal at Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.[4]
McCartan began his career with a minor part in the stage version of Disney's High School Musical in 2007.[5] In 2011 he starred in the titular role in Minnesota's first regional production of The Phantom of the Opera.[6] That same year, he won Best Performance by an Actor at the Jimmy Awards, given out by The Broadway League to the top performers in high school musical productions.[7]
McCartan also originated the role of Jason Dean in the original off-Broadway cast of the musical Heathers, which ran from March through August 2014, after playing the role in the Los Angeles tryout in 2013.
In July 2013, McCartan began playing the recurring role of Diggie on the Disney Channel comedy Liv and Maddie. He was in the show until the finale, which aired on March 24, 2017.[8]
In 2015, he starred in the direct-to-video film .[9] In May 2015, Dove Cameron announced that she and McCartan were officially forming a pop duo and would be releasing their first original song.[10] In September 2015, they announced their group's name would be The Girl and the Dreamcatcher,[11] and their first video was released in October 2015.[12] The pair broke up in October 2016.
In 2016 McCartan was cast in the lead role of Brad Majors in the 2016 Fox musical television film .[13]
On September 11, 2018, McCartan made his Broadway debut as Fiyero in the musical Wicked.[14] He remained with the show until May 12, 2019 where Jessica Vosk also played her final performance as Elphaba.[15]
In mid-2018 he originated the lead role of Eddie Corbin in the new musical Mutt House at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, and in August 2019 he played Lt. Cable in South Pacific at the Aspen Music Festival.[16] In 2019, he starred in the role of Mac in the Roundabout Theatre Company's new musical Scotland PA.[17] In November 2019 he made his solo show debut at Feinstein's/54 Below. In April 2020, he hosted the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS viewing of 25 Years of Disney Broadway.[18]
He joined the cast of Frozen on Broadway as Hans in February 2020 opposite McKenzie Kurtz as Anna and Ciara Renée as Elsa.[19] However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all Broadway theatres were closed in March. Disney later announced, on May 14, 2020, that Frozen would not reopen after the lifting of the lockdown.[20] During 2022, he played Hans in the Broadway National tour of Frozen for two runs, with his final performance being September 4, 2022. His first run would reunite him with Kurtz, his Broadway Anna.[21] [22]
In October 2022, McCartan was cast as Kyle Reed in the spin-off of Supernatural, The Winchesters.[23]
In June 2023, McCartan starred as Tony in a production of West Side Story at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.[24] [25] [26]
In November 2023, McCartan starred as Cletis in the Off-Broadway production of Lone Star.[27]
McCartan began dating actress and singer Dove Cameron who was his Liv & Maddie co-star in August 2013. He officially announced that Cameron was his fiancée on April 14, 2016,[28] [29] but the relationship ended in October 2016.[30] In October 2017, McCartan began dating Samantha Fekete, with whom he runs a YouTube channel called The Stage Door.[31] In September 2023, McCartan and Fekete revealed that they had amicably ended their romantic relationship, but planned to continue running The Stage Door together.
On July 29, 2014, McCartan revealed in a tweet that he has had Type-1 diabetes since age six.[32] In 2019, McCartan stated in an interview that he had been sexually abused by a theatre mentor when he was 12.[33]
In multiple Sam & Ryan videos and other Internet media, McCartan has self-identified as queer or bisexual.[34]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Summer Forever | Liam | ||
Hunter | Direct-to-video film | |||
2016 | Emma's Chance | Jacob Murphy | ||
The Standoff | Farrell Bennett | |||
2018 | The Forbidden Cure | Dr. Max Gerson | Nominated for Best Short Film at Burbank International Film Festival | |
2022 | Love You Anyway | Daniel | Direct-to-video film | |
Only Good Feelings | Benny | Post-production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Extremely Decent | Jeff | Television film | |
2013 | The Middle | Ryan | Episode: "Valentine's Day IV" | |
Monday Mornings | Daniel | Episode: "The Legend and the Fall" | ||
2013–2017 | Liv and Maddie | Diggie | Recurring role | |
2014 | Last Man Standing | Matt | Episode: "Tasers" | |
Royal Pains | William "Cinco" Phipps V | Recurring role (season 6) | ||
2015 | Austin & Ally | Billie | Episode: "Duos & Deception"[35] | |
2016 | Brad Majors | Television film | ||
2017 | Midnight, Texas | Jeremy | Episodes: "Riders on the Storm", "The Virgin Sacrifice" | |
Freakish | Oliver | Recurring role (season 2) | ||
2018 | Love Daily | Dylan | Episode: "Love and Cheese" | |
2018-2019 | Princess Rap Battle | Mad Hatter | 2 digital episodes | |
2022-2023 | The Winchesters | Kyle Reed | Recurring role |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | High School Musical on Stage! | Ensemble | Cargill Stage, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
2010 | The Master Butchers Singing Club | Franz Waldvogel | Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis |
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | J. Pierrepont Finch | Won a Jimmy Award | |
2011 | The Phantom of the Opera | The Phantom of the Opera | Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota |
2013 | Jason "J.D." Dean | Hudson Backstage Theatre in Los Angeles, California | |
2014 | Off-Broadway at New World Stages | ||
2018 | Mutt House | Eddie Corbin | The Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, California |
2018-2019 | Wicked | Fiyero Tigelaar | Gershwin Theatre |
2019 | Into the Wild | Performer | Workshop at Playwrights Horizons[36] |
South Pacific | Lieutenant Joseph Cable, USMC | Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado | |
Scotland, PA | Mac | Off-Broadway at Laura Pels Theatre | |
2020 | Frozen | Prince Hans of the Southern Isles | St. James Theatre |
2022 | U.S. National Tour: March 17 – April 17, July 12 – September 4 | ||
2023 | West Side Story | Tony | Lyric Opera of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois |
Lone Star | Cletis | Off-Broadway at the Theatre Row Building[37] | |
2024 | The Imaginary Invalid | Cléante | Florence Gould Hall[38] |
Follies | Performer | Carnegie Hall[39] |
Album details | |
| |
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again |
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Title | Details | |
---|---|---|
The Opposite |
| |
Seventh Avenue |
|
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"When You Went Away"[43] | 2017 | rowspan="3" |
"Everything"[44] | ||
"Right Now"[45] | ||
"Changed My Mind"[46] | 2018 | The Opposite |
"He Don't Know You"[47] | ||
"Acting Like You Don't"[48] | 2019 | Seventh Avenue |
"High and Low"[49] | 2020 | |
"Politician"[50] | 2021 | |
"Pink and Green"[51] |
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|
"Ours To Lose" | 2015 | Megan Nicole, Anna Grace Barlow, Alyson Stoner | Summer Forever | |
"About Tonight" | Megan Nicole | |||
"Big Time" | ||||
"Pulled Back Down" | 2020 | Within Earshot, Britney Johnson | Within Earshot: Anthems For The In-Between | |
"This Nearly Was Mine" | 2021 | R&H Goes Pop! |
In 2011, he received a Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor.[53]