Interview: Julie Reiber & Bryce Ryness of North Carolina Symphony's HOLLYWOOD HITS

On March 13th & 14th, the North Carolina Symphony will be presenting HOLLYWOOD HITS. Two guest vocalists are coming down to the Triangle area to perform iconic songs from memorable movies and binge-worthy TV such as A STAR IS BORN, TOMMY, ROCKETMAN, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, ROCK OF AGES, LOVE ACTUALLY, TOP GUN, ELVIS, and more. I recently got in touch with both of them.

Julie Reiber has appeared on Broadway in BROOKLYN, ALL SHOOK UP, WICKED, ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER, PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT, NEWSIES, and COME FROM AWAY. Bryce Ryness has appeared on Broadway in LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL, HAIR, LEAP OF FAITH, FIRST DATE, and MATILDA in addition to two live TV musicals, PETER PAN in 2014 and RENT in 2019.

To start things off, how excited are both of you to be performing with the North Carolina Symphony?

JR: Very excited! I love North Carolina. I have performed there before and I love that city.

BR: I'm thrilled. I love this program. It's such a great time at the symphony. I'm just really excited to share it with the people of North Carolina.

What songs can audiences expect to hear from each of you?

JR: This program is so fun! It’s all songs featured in movies so you will hear everything from Elvis and Huey Lewis to Adele and Joni Mitchell. It’s a wide variety with something for everyone and lots of familiar tunes.

BR: Well, hit songs from the movies from like this decade, previous decade, and the decade before that. We kind of run the gamut. The premise of the show is Hollywood Hits, but it's also sometimes known as Hollywood Rocks and that most of the songs have a kind of a rock and roll bent to them. So it's just such a thrill for audiences to experience them like ‘Danger Zone’ from Top Gun with a full 60-70 piece orchestra. It's just a thrilling sound.

In the spirit of Hollywood Hits, would you mind telling us some of your all time favorite movie or TV songs?

JR: When asked that question the song that comes right to my mind is the Cheers theme song then Family Ties. And of course all the James Bond themes are so catchy. 

BR: Well, my, one of my favorite movies is The Natural starring the recently passed Robert Redford and Robert Duvall. Right. That score by Randy Newman is so bizarre and eclectic that it's a movie that takes place in like the 1920s and 1930s, but it has like this synthesizer score. I just love it. I love every sound. Whenever it comes on my shuffle, I'm instantly transported back to that movie and the feelings that it trembles up. I've got three young kids, so all the Disney stuff is also huge. The songs from Aladdin, the songs from Tangled (which I actually did one of the voices for). So my kids love that one as well.

Going back to the beginning, how did each of you first get started in the theatre?

JR: I was always singing and then I did my first show when I was 12 years old at my local community theatre. I immediately got the stage bug and never stopped after that.

BR: I went to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and I studied business. While I did that, I also participated in an acapella group. This is before Pitch Perfect and before The Sing-Off, this is back when acapella was not super cool. That led its way to a professional group after I graduated college. That was at Disney's California Adventure. Then about two-ish years into that group, Disney was like, “okay, we're not gonna do this group anymore.” So there I was two years out of college and I had no prospects for a job. A friend of mine from the group, Greg Whipple was like, “Hey, I'm gonna go audition for this musical theater show. It was at Hollywood and Highland, and it was a really fun musical called Vox Lumiere, which takes classic silent films and puts a rock and roll score to them. So that was kinda the first big thing I did in Los Angeles. Then that led its way to another thing and another thing and another thing. Then after doing the Rent tour in 2006, my wife and I moved out to New York, and then I got absorbed into the system in New York pretty quickly after we moved out there.

What was your first major credit on your resume?

JR: The RENT tour was the first big job I got when I arrived in NYC.

BR: Rent was the first like, big national exposure. I had done some smaller shows in Los Angeles that got me notoriety, but, but pretty locally. I did a production of Floyd Collins with the West Coast Ensemble. That got me a nomination for Ovation Award, which is kind of the L.A. Theater Award equivalent of the Tonys.

Bryce, you got to be in the 2009 Tony-winning revival of HAIR. It featured quite a cast of Broadway favorites such as the late Gavin Creel, Will Swenson, Caissie Levy, even Jackie Burns and Jay Armstrong Johnson. I’d also like to give a shoutout to John Moauro, who’s a friend of my first voice teacher. What was it like getting to be a part of that?

BR: John's a great guy. I'm glad you shouted him out. It was just as many things as Rent was, just like 10 times. It was so sensational to be part of a show that people loved and cherished so much. I'm so grateful that the time had passed from the original production to where it wasn't apples to apples. Almost 40 years had passed since its first production at The Public Theater. So we had a lot of leeway also with that production too. The way that it was written back in the day, it was constantly under revision, constant. The show was never frozen. That's parlance for the way that most Broadway musical theater goes these days is, you do the show, you do the show, it's in previews, it gets changed, it gets amended, it gets trans mortified, and then it opens, and then ideally the show freezes. So if you go see Wicked today, it's pretty much exactly the same show that it was when it first came out all those years ago. With Hair, it never froze. So when Diane Paulus sat down to look at the script for Hair, I wanna say there were like 30 different versions that she had to choose from. It was almost like a sketch comedy show when it was from 1967 all the way up until probably 1976, constantly having all these pieces moved around. So when we did that revival in 2009, Diane got to tell a story that was kind of a hybrid of all the different little scenes that had come together. So when we did it finally, there was kind of nothing to compare it to, even though it had been around for 40 years.  

Julie, you also got to be a part of several fan favorite shows. You stood by for Elphaba in the Los Angeles and New York companies of WICKED. How do you look back at that whole experience?

JR: Elphaba felt like she fit me like a glove. I loved playing that role and even though I stood by, I played the role over 100 times so it felt like she was my own. It’s an iconic show and it’s so special to be part of the green girl tribe. 

From what I'm aware of, several actresses who've played Elphaba have had dreams related to that role. Has that happened to you?

JR: Do you mean actual dreams in my sleep? If so then yes! Definitely. I’ve had some crazy flukes in that role as so many of us have…not flying, traps not working. I’ve got stories!  And those kinds of moments always get your imagination going. Live theatre always has fun and exciting new things happening and your dreams make for some inventive problems. ;-)

Bryce, you got to be in two of the live TV musicals from the 2010s such as PETER PAN and RENT. What was it like getting to put those together?

BR: Peter Pan came about because I had worked on Leap of Faith. Rob Ashford was the director at one point. He was going to do Peter Pan Live. I just really liked working with him, and I think he really likes working with me. So as they were putting together the lost boys and the pirates, they called me in to do my thing. I did my thing as I was called into understudy Smee, which was Christian Borle’s character. Right. They liked what I did, and they liked how ugly and intimidating I was, I guess, as a pirate. So it was six weeks of being treated so well, putting together a stage musical that we were only really gonna do one time. It was gonna be filmed, but there wasn't an audience, which was a little bizarre to really be selling out for. A big Broadway show stopping number and have it go bananas and silence, know the camera's all in, they're filming you, and you go da da da and off, and they all go running away to the next scene. The cameras dampened off to the next setup on the commercial break. It was bizarre to do. It wasn't the first television thing that I'd been a part of before, but it was still bizarre. So we'd congratulate each other. It was another kind of special moment in my life to finish the big number and then turn to Christopher Walken and go, “Hey, good job. Good job Chris,” and he went, “Hey, great.” It was just fun to be in the room. It's all just fun, make-believe, like doing a community theater production. There's just so much money and costuming and lights and technical aspects of it, but it's, it's all just playing, having fun, playing make-believe with your friends and trying to tell the most compelling story that you can and trying to nail the choreography and sing the notes and stuff like that. The greats that I've been a part of, and Gavin (Creel) was part of this, and, and Christian Borle absolutely a part of this guys who have never lost that childlike mystery and wonder of just having fun. Playing make believe with your friends and being inclusive and accepting of everyone's different energy and telling the best story that they can. That's what those are about, because there's no audience, there's no one to like to play to. So it's just about having fun doing this group project together. The group project just happens to be Peter Pan Live! on NBC.

With Rent, it was like a rock concert. It was unbelievable the amount of energy and just the vibes. The feeling in the room was electric. It was like pop rocks in your mouth. There's that lyric I think that Mark does sing like “Incendiary” at some point, and I remember hearing them sing that number meaning like, “oh yeah. the vibes in this sound stage on the Sony lot are like, something's happening here.”

Julie, you were a part of the cast of the 2011 revival of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER starring Harry Connick, Jr., where you even stood by for Jessie Mueller (in her Broadway debut) as Melinda Wells. What was that like?

JR: I joined that late in the process during tech and never went on as it was a very short run. But I loved the music and rehearsing. It was a really fun role and Harry is a doll. Such a kind generous star to have on a show. And Jessie is a gem too. I had lots of friends in that group so it was a fun show for its short life. 

You were also in the closing cast of the Broadway production of Disney's NEWSIES. That had to have been a fun time.

JR: So fun!  Talk about a fun show and a fun group of people!! I loved joining that and wished it hadn’t ended so soon after I joined but I will always remember watching those boys dancing in awe of all of them. Such incredible talent and the crowd always went wild. I loved that show so much!

Your most recent main stem appearance was as standby for multiple roles in COME FROM AWAY. One of the local regional theatres in my area is getting ready to present it in April. How do you look back at your time with that show?

JR: Come From Away was a great blessing in my life. It is such a beautiful piece of art and everyone who was a part of our company is forever changed and forever bonded. Lifelong friendships and moments. It’s just beyond special that show and being a part of the original experience was like no other show I’ve been a part of. 

Throughout each of your respective careers, what are some of your favorite roles you’ve gotten to play?

JR: Most recently I played MJ in the national tour of Jagged Little Pill and that was a highlight for me. Such a complex and wonderful role that fit my life perfectly at the time so it really filled my creative cup. I also of course loved playing Elphaba.  She will always be a highlight for sure! 

BR: Well, top of the list was one of the first things I did in Los Angeles, which was Floyd Collins in the musical, Floyd Collins. That has stayed with me for all these years after doing it. That was what 2005 was when I did that. There was something about that character that touched something really deep and spiritual within me. A yearning, a quest that I've never been able to shake that longing that that character has. I loved playing Woof in Hair. That same thing of just searching for a place in that character and identity and a hope beyond hope in the midst of the Vietnam War. All this kind of crazy death and destruction and exclusion that's happening around him. I loved playing Trunchbull in Matilda. It was so fun. To just go out there and be the disruptor, to be the one who's trying to thwart, you know, all the kids and Miss Honey. It was fun to play that character and to allow myself, 'cause I guess I can be kind of intimidating from time to time. Maybe it's the angularity of my face or the size of my nose or whatever. To be able to have fun and bring my kind of natural intensity to a role that also had a comedic element to it, and that the more intense I got, the better the laugh was. The more calculated I was, the more satisfying it was for the audience. In my time doing roles where like, “all right, I did that for six weeks and I'm all set. Like, I don't, I don't need to play that character anymore.” But I feel like with Trunchbull, I could play that for another six years and still not run out of how fun it was.

Looking ahead into the future, what are some dream roles each of you would love to pursue?

JR: Like so many actors, I dream of creating a role and bringing myself to an original piece. I love being a part of the original creative process making something from nothing. So that is a big dream. I also would love to play Heidi in Dear Evan Hansen and also Diana in Next to Normal…continuing my complex middle aged mom characters after playing MJ. ;-) 

BR: I'm in my mid forties now. So I hope at some point, I don't know that I need to do it like eight shows a week for a year, but I would love to, um, explore either Valjean or Javert from Les Miz. I just think that those two characters are exploring fundamental themes that now that I'm of the age that I am, that just have so much more meaning. I have three kids, so ‘Bring Him Home’ is gonna mean something different as Valjean sings to this wounded character who means so much to his daughter. It's gonna resonate differently now that I'm older. Contemporaries of mine are starting to fold into The Phantom of the Opera. I'd be interested in taking that on. I think that would be fun. I'm not a standard leading man type guy I'm interested in looking, but there's again that I'm intense and kind of scary, so sign me up. I'd love to.

For those who’d like to pursue a career in the theatre, where do each of you think would be a good place to start?

JR: Local theatre! My local community theatre is what gave me confidence and where I discovered the joy of a theatre community and all it had to offer. And after that,  training and school is always an option and is helpful. But raw talent is raw talent and if you have the passion and determination the follow those dreams!

BR: That's a good question. I got into it through the world of singing. So I went to school for business. I did not grow up doing musical theater. My advice for people would probably be to love musical theater, enjoy it. You don't need to specialize in it at this point. I think what's gonna help you later on into your twenties and your thirties is having real world experience doing a lot of different types of things. So obviously if you love musical theater and you have so much fun doing it, keep doing it. But if your goal is to be on Broadway, I think you maybe don't have to get there in the next 10 minutes. Focus on cultivating within yourself a good self knowledge. Like, know what you're good at, know what you're not as good at. Just live life, live, be involved in group projects, put yourself in positions where you maybe are taking on a role that you wouldn't normally take on 'cause that's gonna develop your skillset. So that's my advice to people who want to pursue theater 'cause that really was my experience. I can only speak from my experience, and I found in my time on Broadway that the most interesting actors, the most interesting people were people who didn't, just, weren't just like the star of the show at every single age. It was people who lived a life because they came to the theater with a reality and honesty. That is just interesting. It's just so much more interesting than a paint by numbers actor who just, all they really know is how to be a star. Be a mother, be a father, be a brother, be a sister, be be all those things first. Then you can take those into the theater and into your auditions. It's just going to be something about it to us as an audience. Something about it is gonna pop as real. You can't be real and be honest. If you don't really know how to do math or understand the ins and outs of what business is, then when you sing those lyrics, it's not gonna mean anything. We're gonna know that it doesn't mean anything to you. But if you know what corporate America is, kind of how it runs and how it works and what these words mean, then you're gonna get the comedy of what the composer has written and inform it with meaning.

Before we go, do either of you have any other upcoming projects you’d like to share with us?

JR: I’ve been very busy with symphony work which I enjoy so much. I’ve also been recording a lot of singing on movie soundtracks. I have a Christmas film coming out this year which is so fun. And I’ll be signing with the Edmonton Symphony next after this in Canada which is always a favorite place to visit. 

BR: Well, we do have another Hollywood Rocks show that is gonna be in Edmonton Canada. I'm really looking forward to this engagement with the North Carolina Symphony. I think it's gonna be so much fun. We've done this a few times now. My encouragement is to go like, you have to be in the beauty of orchestra performances. The beauty of these things is that you physically feel, it's like going to a Broadway show. You physically feel the band, you feel the double base. As much as it's nice to watch things on TV, it's just different when, to quote my friend Leslie Odom, Jr., who was in Hamilton, “you gotta be in the room where it happens."

Bryce, Julie, I thank you both very much for devoting your time to this conversation. For those who’d like to keep up with either of your careers, where can people find you on the internet?

JR: You can connect with me at my website www.juliereiber.com. Also on Facebook.

BR: I'll post every once in a while. I'm pretty busy with a wife and three kids. I'll post on my Instagram handle, which @bryceryness. Then my side project is that I do custom woodworking, so you can also find me @rynesswoodworking. Those are both on Instagram. So look for me in the stars.

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