Looking forward to a career on dry land

Ryan Thompson returns from first cruise ship gig ready to take on the world

Grease is the word – at least it has been for former Mount Gambier performer Ryan Thompson who has been travelling the high seas on a Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship as part of the on board entertainment crew.

The MJ Dance Studio alumni, who graduated the Mount Gambier dance school in 2018, secured the cruise ship gig last May after finding work as an entertainer hit the skids during COVID and is only just on the improve over the past few months.

Compounding the impact on the entertainment industry was the fact Ryan was located in Melbourne, spending weeks on end locked down, unable to work and participating in classes to keep his hand in, via Zoom.

When Ryan first left Mount Gambier, things were going smoothly as he secured a scholarship at Patrick School of the Arts in Melbourne as he looked to pursue, what he still hopes will be, a career in musical theatre.

He was awarded best male dancer at the prestigious Melbourne school after he completed his 2019 full year of study – Ryan was part of the inaugural intake of a more musical theatre based program and he is grateful for the experience that year of study gave him once he was able to start hitting the audition trail. He continued with classes at Patrick, many online, during 2020, before bidding study goodbye and working with his agent to try and find work in the industry.

Even in 2021, auditions and work was scarce so Ryan became somewhat of an entertainment cliché, working in a bar and a gym to supplement the small amount of work his agent was able to access.

Early last year, the Royal Caribbean Cruise auditions were on offer but ironically, Ryan couldn’t access time off from his other jobs and had to miss the dance auditions. Fortunately his agent was able to secure him a spot in the musical theatre audition group at the last minute.

“My agent rang me at 9am one morning and said I had the cruise audition in two hours,” Ryan said. That kickstarted two days of strutting his stuff in front of a panel of seven US casting directors and other personnel, performing his way through the dance auditions to make it through to day two with some more dancing and a singing audition.

“I had to sing an Elvis number,” Ryan said, while admitting he has always been a dancer first and vocalist second. “That’s why I am so lucky I was able to work on my singing when I was studying.”

Ryan was given the heads up that the panel was impressed and he was told he would hear from them in the near future.

“Mind you sometimes they say that and you never hear from them again so I didn’t take it too seriously,” Ryan said.

Much like the last minute opportunity to audition for Royal Caribbean, the job offer was also out of the blue and required Ryan to get his ducks in a row quickly.

“My agent got an email two weeks later asking how quickly I could get over to the States,” Ryan said. “Not really knowing what was involved, I basically said I could be there almost immediately.”

What he hadn’t factored in was the paperwork and other arrangements and because Australia was so backed up with issuing visas post-COVID, Ryan ended up having to go to Singapore to get the two visas he needed – one to work on a cruise ship and one for the United States.

Once he made his way to the ship, via Tokyo, Los Angeles and finally Miami, on what was his first overseas trip, Ryan was feeling a little daunted about his latest career move.

“I was replacing someone so I had missed the whole rehearsal period and had to go straight to the ship,” he said. “The cast had been together for about four months so it was daunting stepping into that.”

Not only was he a Johnny-come-lately but he stepped onto the ship on the back of 49 hours in the air getting to Miami in the first place.

“We opened Grease the week after that,” Ryan said. This all happened in May last year as he took on his role in the Grease cast, including as understudy for Sonny, as well as Eugene – a role he played about 30 times during his tenure.

While on the cruise ship, Ryan was part of with shows a week – Grease three times a week, a new production Columbus, also three times a week and two other cast productions.

“I absolutely loved it,” Ryan said.

“I am already looking at doing another one in the near future but I do want to see what auditions are around in Melbourne, although I have missed most of the musical theatre auditions at the moment.”

Ryan certainly made his mark on the high seas, being ranked in the top three performers on the cruise, once they were back on land and he returned to Melbourne and then Mount Gambier, earlier this month.

And he did miss home while he was travelling around Puerto Rico and Mexico with the 14 hour time difference complicating the opportunities to catch up with his family.

“I did struggle with that,” Ryan said. “Not just the time difference but the unreliable internet but I got to see some beautiful parts of the world and met some amazing people that will be lifelong friends.”

While he will be staying close to home for now, basing himself again in Melbourne, he has an end game that would see him heading to London’s West End.

“A lot of Australians move over there because there is so much more work and opportunities,” Ryan said.

For now he will be looking for any work opportunities, having already done some commercial dance gigs, as well as TV work in a Toyota ad, as well as for an Asian phone company.

Like so many MJ graduates, Ryan has been able to build up a strong network of industry contacts – not just former students and teachers, including his first hip hop teacher Euan Doidge, who is now widely considered one of the pre-eminent musical theatre performers in Australia, but also people he has met through MJ competitions.

“Euan was the one who suggested I go to Patrick School of the Arts and it was through people I knew from competitions that MJ went to that I got the full COOK’S ALUMINIUM SERVICE BODY Multi fit body mounts, Gas strut assisted lift up middle door, LED tail lights, Integrated Central Locking, Reverse Camera, Ladder racks. More info/photos at www.topspotauto.com.au/product/2019-px-ranger-xl-2/ NOW STOCKING A WIDE RANGE OT TERRAIN TAMER PARTS & ACCESSORIES SUSPENSION COMPONENTS, GEARBOX REPAIR KITS, WHEEL BEARING & HUB KITS, SHACKLE KITS, BRAKE PADS, UNI JOINTS FILTER LITS, TAILSHAFTS Phone 1300 720 101 | www.topspotauto.com.au 12B Wireless Rd East, Mt Gambier SA 5290 scholarship which I needed to be able to take up that full time study,” Ryan said. “Travelling to all those competitions when I was at MJ was great to see what was happening elsewhere and meet people in the industry.

“Maria (Slape – MJ Studio director) has been so great for me and even offered me work while I am home and I cannot thank her enough for what MJ did for me and my career.”

CRUISY CAREER: (Below top left) Ryan performing as Eugene in Grease; (below bottom left) Ryan dancing in 2017 & (below bottom right) Ryan in the Royal Caribbean cruise ship production of Grease