Stage and song
Published 12:01 am Monday, February 28, 2011
As Ryan Woodyard steps into the commons of Terrace High, several students call out greetings to the tall, lanky blue-eyed blond. His longish hair pushed back under a Mariners ball cap, Ryan grins and waves back.
Q. We heard you were the Hawk mascot last year and that you were the home
coming king this year.
A. Yeah, our sports teams need encouragement from us. I like to lead the wave at games and assemblies. I don’t know why I was voted homecoming king, but I got to wear a crown. I like to have fun, though I have had to learn how to keep it from going to excess. I am learning to stop myself. I want to be taken a little bit more seriously.
Q. You seem like a popular guy.
A. Oh, my family is not rich and I’m just another face in the crowd. But I like to bring people together. I love this school and the people here. In my freshman year, though, I got teased a lot. I had to decide to not to be a jerk back to people who made fun of me when I wore the same T-shirt day after day. I had to enter each day as if every person at school was my friend.
Q. How are you doing in school?
A. I am not an academic person, but I do fairly well. The teachers voted me student of the month. I could always do better. I have dyslexia and attention problems, but I have figured out where I fit in and how I learn. I like psychology and the arts.
Q. Where are you going for college?
A. I plan to study music and drama at Shoreline Community College and then transfer to Central Washington University. I want to pursue a performance career, but if it doesn’t work out, I want to earn a teaching degree.
Q. Do you come by music and acting naturally?
A. My mother is a singer, and my dad is an actor, so I am a child of the arts. My first high school role was in “Harvey” during my sophomore year. It’s the Jimmy Stewart role, and I love Jimmy Stewart. I did a fairly good job. I am a much more outgoing, random people-person now.
Q. What have been some of your other roles in productions at Terrace?
A. My role in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” earned me the “best actor in nonsinging role” at the 5th Avenue awards ceremony for high school musicals, though the thing I remember most about the awards ceremony was the ceiling of the theater and the big chandelier.
I had the leads in “Larry and the Werewolf” and “Back to the ’80s.” The music was terrible. The 1980s ended for a reason. And this year, in the ensemble piece “Almost, Maine,” I get to play a more serious character. Serious is out of the routine for me as an actor, because I so often play the comical guy.
Q. What about music?
A: I play the viola in the chamber orchestra. I also taught myself to play the ukelele, which I like to bring to school and have on me. I sing tenor in (the select choir) the Dynamics. I find flaws in my singing, but I can criticize myself rather well. On my iPod I have an eclectic mix of Celtic, jazz, big band, blues, acoustic and more. I love music.
Q. What else do you do at school?
A. I am on the theater sports improv team, and we do well at competition. I host the “Terrace Idol” singing competition and “The Now Show,” which is a talk show sponsored by the music boosters, during which we get to know people who perform music professionally.
Q. And outside of school?
A. I like to watch rugby. Now those are real men, and that’s a great sport. I play ultimate Frisbee, and I run, though I am not much good at it. It’s OK. The arts are just as important and just as difficult, if not harder, than any sport.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
