Ryan Knowles

Ryan Knowles is an American actor, singer, comedian, writer, television host, speech coach, and motivational speaker born on December 12, 1978, in California. He grew up in Orange County and later relocated to New York City, where he built a career spanning Broadway, national tours, off-Broadway theater, television, and film.

Knowles made his Broadway debut on October 16, 2019, in The Lightning Thief at the Longacre Theatre, where the production ran through January 5, 2020. In the show, he portrayed nine characters while executing twenty-five quick costume changes. The New York Times included his work in its "Best Of Theatre 2019" list. Before reaching Broadway, Knowles had spent nine months performing the same roles in the First National Tour of The Lightning Thief. His Broadway credits also include We Will Rock You, the worldwide musical by Queen and Ben Elton, for which he spent a year on the 2013/2014 North American leg of the World Tour. In that production, Knowles originated the role of Buddy, a Bohemian Rebel Leader, a part that book writer and director Ben Elton crafted specifically for Knowles during rehearsals.

Among his other national touring credits, Knowles appeared in the North American tours of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in both 2010 and 2011, playing Grandpa Who and understudying the Grinch. In the winter of 2009, he toured in Todrick Hall's Oz the Musical as Brenda, the Wicked Witch of the West Side, alongside Vonzell Solomon, Aundrea Fimbres, and Orlando Brown.

Knowles has accumulated a substantial body of off-Broadway and New York theater work. In 2005, he starred as Nick Bottom in Fools In Love, a 1950s-style musical adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, at the Manhattan Ensemble Theatre in SoHo, where he performed the role for over a year. The following year, he starred as Prospero in the new musical Tempest at the Cherry Lane Theatre, adapting Shakespeare's original text and co-writing the book with Daniel Neiden from a concept by Tony Award-winning book writer Thomas Meehan. In spring 2010, Knowles starred as the Roman Emperor Caligula in Caligula Maximus, a circus-musical-extravaganza directed by Randy Weiner and Alfred Preisser at La MaMa ETC in the Ellen Stewart Theatre. That same summer, he wrote and performed the solo show DIG & BE DUG: The Gospel of Lord Buckley at the Planet Connections Theatre Festival, portraying the jazz comedian Lord Buckley and winning awards for both Best Solo Show and Best Performance in a Solo Show. He also appeared in the New York premiere of Hound as Sherlock Holmes, a performance that earned him the Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor award at the Planet Connections Theatre Festival. Additional New York credits include the award-winning topical revue NEWSical: The Musical at Theatre Row's Kirk Theatre, where he performed alongside Christine Pedi, Michael West, Christina Bianco, and Tommy Walker, with guest appearances by Perez Hilton, Andrea McArdle, Cheri Oteri, and Carson Kressley, among others. Knowles has also appeared in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall and in other projects with the Rockettes.

In 2025, Knowles joined Disney Cruise Line as a Broadway Guest Artist aboard the Disney Fantasy, portraying Jafar in Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular and Dr. Greenaway in Disney's Believe. His connection to the latter show dates back to its origins: he previously portrayed the Genie in the original production at the Hyperion Theatre at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, California, in 2006 and 2007.

On television, Knowles served as the host of Nickelodeon's daily live show ME:TV in 2006. In film, he appeared in the supernatural thriller Camp Hell, which he filmed in 2008 alongside Academy Award nominee Bruce Davison, Emmy winner Dana Delany, and Jesse Eisenberg; the film received a theatrical release in 2011.

As a writer, Knowles has produced stand-up material, sketch comedies, short stories, six plays, and two musicals, among them DIG & BE DUG: The Gospel of Lord Buckley, Nick Bottom's Extravaganza!, and The Tempest: The Musical.

Beyond performance, Knowles works as a speech coach, political consultant, and motivational speaker, serving students, politicians, and business leaders. He has acted as a speechwriter and debate and vocal coach for local and state candidates across the country and is a consultant in speech and interpretive performance for competitive high school programs on both coasts. Together with David Kraft, he co-founded the Interprod Performance Studies Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, a summer intensive program for young performers. This work was informed by his own competitive background: Knowles won multiple state and national championships in high school and collegiate speech and debate, and in 2000 became the first American to win a World Championship at the World Universities Debate Association Championship Tournament, held at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.