Ryan Schlecht

Eighteen years as professional artist in theatre industry (actor, director, American Sign Language (ASL) master and producer). Winner of 2004 Tony® Honor for Excellence in Theatre with Deaf West Theatre’s BIG RIVER as ensemble member, he also performed as Bill Sykes in Deaf West Theatre’s OLIVER! which won 2000 L.A. Ovation Award for Best Revival of a Musical. In the last 13 years, he was involved in Seattle theatre community by performing in SOUND by Azeotrope Theatre (2016 Gypsy Rose Lee Award nominee for Excellence in Performance as Supporting Actor and 2016 Gregory Award nominee for Best New Play) and ASL MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM by Sound Theatre Company (2018 Gregory Award nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actor). He served as Deaf Spotlight’s Artistic Director and directed their two productions, BROKEN SPOKES and GOD OF CARNAGE, in addition to directing EL DEAFO with Seattle's Book-It Repertory that toured around schools in the state of Washington and performed front of 20,000 students. As ASL Master, he have coached interpreters in numerous of Seattle regional and Broadway shows, most notably with A Contemporary Theatre's TRIBES (2017 Gregory nominee for Outstanding Production) and 5th Avenue Theatre's THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (2018 Gregory nominee for Outstanding Musical).