Ryah Nixon

Ryah Nixon is a Broadway performer and graduate of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, class of 2009. A native of Seattle, Washington, she attended Roosevelt High School before pursuing her training at Carnegie Mellon, where her classmates included Kyle Beltran, who went on to appear in In the Heights; Hunter Ryan Herdlicka of A Little Night Music; Steffanie Leigh of Mary Poppins; and Ian Harding, known for Pretty Little Liars.

Nixon's early career included a 2009 appearance in Fat Camp the Musical at the New York Musical Festival, followed by her off-Broadway debut in Another Part of the Forest, in which she played the role of Laurette. She also appeared in television, including a season one episode of Louie on FX titled "Double Date/Mom" and a June 10, 2012 episode of the Discovery Channel series Head Games titled "Moral Dilemma."

Her Broadway credits span from 2010 to 2025 and include 9 to 5, BOOP! The Musical, The Queen of Versailles, Once Upon a Time, and the play The Great Gatsby. Prior to her Broadway work, Nixon joined the first national tour of 9 to 5: The Musical, performing in the ensemble while understudying the roles of Doralee and Judy Bernley. She later replaced Diana DeGarmo as the lead in the final leg of the tour, closing it as Doralee Rhodes on July 31, 2011. Her performance in that role earned her a BroadwayWorld Award. In 2021, Nixon was announced to star again as Doralee Rhodes in North Carolina Theatre's production of 9 to 5.

Beyond the 9 to 5 tour, Nixon played Kate McGowan in the 5th Avenue Theatre's concert version of Titanic, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking. In the summer of 2012, she returned to Seattle's Tony Award-winning 5th Avenue Theatre to play Maureen in RENT. She subsequently took on the role of Alice in Lizzie, a new musical based on the story of Lizzie Borden, at the off-Broadway venue Ars Nova in New York City. In October 2014, she played Magenta in the Bucks County Playhouse production of The Rocky Horror Show, and in the summer of 2015 she starred as Lulu in the out-of-town tryout of Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical at Dallas Theatre Center. Nixon has also been involved in industry readings of Jawbreaker the Musical, playing the role of Foxy, a character portrayed by Julie Benz in the film.