Ryan goes wherever the work is

Filipino musical artists are always trying their luck abroad. In the same manner, foreign artists — who are intrigued by what this part of the world has to offer — are constantly looking for ways to break into the Asian market.

One of the latest to try his luck is 25-year-old Ryan Gallagher. The half-Irish and half-Polish Ryan (who holds American citizenship) is based in Los Angeles, where he has been pursuing opportunities in entertainment. While there, he made a lot of friends, including several Filipinos. One day, he was invited to perform at the birthday party of a friend for which he had to fly to Manila. “I do that a lot; I go to different places, and people fly me in to do events,” he explains, adding that he “goes wherever the work is.”

In Manila, he was invited to sing at the opening of Solaire Resort and Casino, but because he had commitments in Los Angeles, he flew home again and was back in Manila a week later. Then in August, he performed a duet of The Prayer with Lea Salonga at a concert for the benefit of the flood victims. What followed after that was quite unexpected. “I was asked, ‘Are you interested in doing a musical?’ I said, ‘Sure, I’ve never done that before.’”

The offer was from Atlantis Productions, which was mounting the Manila production of The Addams Family. Ryan would be playing the role of Lucas Beineke, the nice “normal” American boy who falls in love with Wednesday Addams, to be played by K-La Rivera, fresh from her triumph in Carrie in which she had taken over the lead role from Mikkie Bradshaw, who had unexpectedly been taken ill. Although Ryan had never done musical theater before, his adventurous nature was willing to give it a shot. “I figured, I had nothing to lose,” says Ryan. “I told myself, I’d go in, see if it works, and if it doesn’t, then I’ll just move on to something else.”

It turned out well — Ryan bagged the role, and will be based in Manila for the next three months while they are rehearsing and during the actual run of the show. Beyond that, he is looking to explore more opportunities in Manila. He already has a Filipino manager, Gina Godinez, who used to manage Martin Nievera and who happens to be the mother of Samantha Godinez, wife of Gary Valenciano’s eldest son Paolo. Gina is helping Ryan to explore what else is out there in terms of career opportunities. A trouper, Ryan is giving this all he’s got; he’s even willing to live out of a suitcase and travel back and forth between Manila and Los Angeles if that’s what it takes. “I’ll go back and forth; it’s pretty easy,” he says. “I don’t mind traveling. It’s in my nature. Everywhere I go, I bring my career with me. As long as I’m doing what I love, we’ll see where it goes. As long as you have the passion for it, getting paid for something you love, you’re living the dream already.”

As for permanently settling in Manila, that’s something he’ll have to think about long-term. For now, Los Angeles seems like a good base, then he’ll fly in whenever there is work. “I can live here (Manila), but also in different places. Los Angeles is a good place for that. You can fly one way, and go the other way, too, it’s just a 15-hour flight. If you need to be somewhere, you just go. L.A. is a pretty good hub for entertainment, even if I don’t care for the city that much. With the Internet, things are constantly moving. I can be based in L.A., I can be anywhere and do it. Right now, I don’t want to say no to anything. I’ll just take it in stride and see where it goes, one day at a time.”