For some, performing on a stage in front of hundreds of people can seem terrifying, but for 10-year-old Ryanne it’s just part of the fun. The 4th grader has been acting in plays since kindergarten and the thrill of having all eyes on her as she acts out a scene is what keeps her coming back to the stage over and over again.
Ryanne currently plays Shprintze, one of the daughters in “Fiddler on the Roof,” at a local community theater in Washington, D.C. She caught the acting bug at a young age, acted in school plays, and went on to perform at camp. After seeing a play in the community last year, she knew it was time to take her craft to a bigger stage.
“I saw a play at local theater and I said to my mom I wanted to be in a professional play, and I auditioned and got in!” she explains.
Her current run in “Fiddler on the Roof” has a total of 11 performances and she has completed three already.
“I think I like acting because I can pretend to be different people; I can be someone else,” Ryanne says. “It’s really fun to be on stage in front of people and be the center of attention.”
However, acting isn’t Ryanne’s only form of artistic expression. She also loves to write and hopes to be a published author someday. Currently, Ryanne is writing a book about wolves.
“My goal is to get a book published before I’m 20,” she says.
She chose wolves as the subject of her first book because there is nothing that fascinates Ryanne more than the howling canines.
She remembers being seven when she first learned about wolves after a visit to Yellowstone Park. They’ve captured her attention ever since.
“Some people think they are bad or evil animals. But they are really pretty and smart. People just give them a bad rap,” Ryanne says.
Living in bustling Washington, D.C., Ryanne doesn’t often get to see wolves, or any animals, in their natural habitat. That’s why she likes taking trips to places where she can explore nature.
In October, Ryanne and her family went on a camping retreat to the Chesapeake Bay. She liked being able to ride her bike by herself and all of the outdoor activities like rock climbing.
“I do like being in the woods and sort of how free it is out there,” she says.
However, at heart she will always be a city girl. “I always feel safer in the city because I’m used to growing up there,” Ryanne explains.
Ryanne lives with her two moms Lynne and Leslie, and her cat and pet fish, in Capitol Hill, a beautiful neighborhood in Washington, D.C., just walking distance to the U.S. Capitol Building.
As much as she enjoys living in a major city, she’s even more excited to leave from time to time to explore other countries.
“We go on a lot of trips because my mom is a flight attendant so we can fly free and we take advantage of that,” Ryanne says.
Last summer, they went to Belgium, Paris and Germany and this summer they’re visiting Austria.
In addition to its picturesque canals, Ryanne loved Belgium for its famous chocolate. “I like that they had entire stores devoted to selling chocolate,” she explains.
She also loved the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
One of her favorite trips of all, however, is flying to Seattle to visit her twin half brothers. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that she discovered she had brothers and the realization was something she’ll never forget.
“I met them when I was really little but didn’t know we were related until we were 8. Before we knew we were related, one of them said to his mom ‘Ryanne feels like family’. When we found out we were half siblings, we were so surprised we had to have ice cream to calm us down,” Ryanne explains.
It makes her happy knowing that in addition to being a traveler, writer and actor, she can also be called someone’s sister.
