Ryan McCartan

Ryan McCartan
Ryan McCartan in 2015
Born
Ryan Jerome McCartan

(1993-06-14) June 14, 1993 (age 33)
Excelsior, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
Years active2011–present
Known for

Ryan Jerome McCartan (born June 14, 1993) is an American actor and singer. He is known for creating the role of Jason "J.D." Dean in the original off-Broadway cast of Heathers: The Musical. His Broadway credits include Fiyero Tigelaar in Wicked, Prince Hans in Frozen and Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby.

On screen, McCartan starred as Brad Majors in the 2016 Fox musical television film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again. He also played the recurring role of Diggie Smalls on the Disney Channel sitcom Liv and Maddie (2013–2017).

Early life

McCartan was born on June 14, 1993, in Excelsior, Minnesota, and graduated from Minnetonka High School in 2011 where he had been part of the Minnetonka Theatre. His father, Conn McCartan, was the principal at Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, until his retirement in June 2023.

Career

McCartan began his career with a minor part in the stage version of High School Musical in 2007. In 2011 he starred in the titular role in Minnesota's first regional production of The Phantom of the Opera. That same year, he won Best Performance by an Actor at the Jimmy Awards, given out by The Broadway League to the top performers in high school musical productions.

McCartan originated the role of Jason Dean in the original off-Broadway cast of the musical Heathers, from March through August 2014.[citation needed] He previously played the role in the 2013 premiere of the musical in Los Angeles.[citation needed] In July 2013, McCartan began playing the recurring role of Diggie on the Disney Channel comedy Liv and Maddie. He remained on the show until its finale on March 24, 2017.

In 2015, he starred in the direct-to-video film R.L. Stine's Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls. In 2015, Dove Cameron and McCartan formed a pop duo called The Girl and the Dreamcatcher, and their first video was released in October 2015. The pair broke up in October 2016.

In 2016 McCartan was cast in the lead role of Brad Majors in the 2016 Fox musical television film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again.

In mid-2018 he originated the lead role of Eddie Corbin in the new musical Mutt House at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.[where?][citation needed] On September 11, 2018, McCartan made his Broadway debut as Fiyero in the musical Wicked. He remained with the show until May 12, 2019.

In August 2019 he played Lt. Cable in South Pacific at the Aspen Music Festival. Also in 2019, he starred as Mac in Roundabout Theatre Company's new musical Scotland PA. In November 2019 he made his solo show debut at Feinstein's/54 Below.[citation needed] In April 2020, he hosted the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS viewing of 25 Years of Disney Broadway.

He joined the cast of Frozen on Broadway as Hans in February 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Broadway theatres were closed in March. During 2022, he played Hans in the U.S. National tour of Frozen; his final performance was on September 4, 2022.

In October 2022, McCartan was cast as Kyle Reed in The Winchesters, a spin-off of Supernatural. In June 2023, McCartan starred as Tony in a production of West Side Story at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In November 2023, he starred as Cletis in the off-Broadway production of Lone Star. In September 2024, he took on the titular role in Randy Newman's Faust at The Soraya in Los Angeles, California.

McCartan joined the cast of The Great Gatsby on Broadway in January 2025, replacing Jeremy Jordan in the title role. He expected to star in West Side Story as Tony as a part of the Washington National Opera at the Lyric Baltimore and Music Center at Strathmore.

Personal life

McCartan began dating actress and singer Dove Cameron, his Liv & Maddie co-star, in August 2013. He officially announced that Cameron was his fiancée on April 14, 2016. The relationship ended in October 2016.

In October 2017, McCartan began dating Samantha Fekete, with whom he ran a YouTube channel called The Stage Door, previously known as Sam & Ryan. In September 2023, they ended their romantic relationship but planned to continue running The Stage Door together. They soon discontinued the channel.

In 2014, McCartan tweeted that he has had Type-1 diabetes since age six. In 2019, he stated in an interview that he had been sexually abused by a theatre mentor when he was 12.

McCartan has self-identified as either queer or bisexual.

Filmography

Film roles
Year Title Role Notes
2015 Summer Forever Liam
Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls Hunter Direct-to-video film
2016 Emma's Chance Jacob Murphy
The Standoff Farrell Bennett
2018 The Forbidden Cure Dr. Max Gerson Nominated for Best Short Film at Burbank International Film Festival
2022 Love You Anyway Daniel Direct-to-video film
TBA Only Good Feelings Benny Post-production
Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
2011 Extremely Decent Jeff Television film
2013 The Middle Ryan Episode: "Valentine's Day IV"
Monday Mornings Daniel Episode: "The Legend and the Fall"
2013–2017 Liv and Maddie Digbert "Diggie" Smalls Recurring role;
27 episodes
2014 Last Man Standing Matt Episode: "Tasers"
Royal Pains William "Cinco" Phipps V Recurring role (season 6);
4 episodes
2015 Austin & Ally Billie Episode: "Duos & Deception"
2016 The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again Brad Majors Television film
2017 Midnight, Texas Jeremy 2 episodes: "Riders on the Storm", "The Virgin Sacrifice"
Freakish Oliver "Ollie" Keller Recurring role (season 2);
5 episodes
2018 Love Daily Dylan Episode: "Love and Cheese"
2018-2019 Princess Rap Battle Mad Hatter 2 digital episodes
2022-2023 The Winchesters Kyle Reed Recurring role;
4 episodes

Theatre credits

Year Title Role Notes
2007 High School Musical on Stage! Ensemble Cargill Stage, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2010 The Master Butchers Singing Club Franz Waldvogel Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying J. Pierrepont Finch Won a Jimmy Award
2011 The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota
2013 Heathers: The Musical Jason "J.D." Dean Hudson Backstage Theatre in Los Angeles, California
2014 Off-Broadway at New World Stages
2018 Mutt House Eddie Corbin The Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, California
2018–2019 Wicked Fiyero Tigelaar Gershwin Theatre:
September 11 – December 30, 2018
January 22 – May 12, 2019
2019 South Pacific Lieutenant Joseph Cable, USMC Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado
Scotland, PA Mac Off-Broadway at Laura Pels Theatre
2020 Frozen Prince Hans St. James Theatre:
February 18 – March 11, 2020
2022 U.S. National Tour:
March 17 – April 17, 2022
July 12 – September 4, 2022
2023 West Side Story Tony Lyric Opera of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois
Lone Star Cletis Off-Broadway at the Theatre Row Building
2024 The Imaginary Invalid Cléante Florence Gould Hall
Follies Young Ben Carnegie Hall
Faust Henry Faust The Soraya in Los Angeles, California
2025 The Great Gatsby Jay Gatsby Broadway Theatre:
January 21 – November 9, 2025
2025–2026 Jay Gatsby
(alternate)		 Broadway Theatre:
November 28 – December 27, 2025
January 26 – March 2, 2026
2026 Jay Gatsby Broadway Theatre:
March 8 – 29, 2026
July 27, 2026 – Present
West Side Story Tony Lyric Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland
Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland

* Credits in bold indicate Broadway venues

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details
Heart Attack
  • Released: October 13, 2015
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Minty Swirl Records

Soundtrack albums

Title Album details
Heathers: The Musical
  • Released: June 10, 2014
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
  • Label: Yellow Sound Label
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

Extended plays

Title Details
The Opposite
  • Released: May 18, 2018
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
  • Label: Ryan's Gate Music
Seventh Avenue
  • Released: September 20, 2019
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
  • Label: Ryan's Gate Music

Singles

Title Year Album
"When You Went Away" 2017 Non-album singles
"Everything"
"Right Now"
"Changed My Mind" 2018 The Opposite
"He Don't Know You"
"Acting Like You Don't" 2019 Seventh Avenue
"High and Low" 2020 TBA
"Politician" 2021
"Pink and Green"

Promotional singles

Title Year Album
"You Can't Unlove Me" 2014 Non-album promotional single

Other appearances

Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"Ours To Lose" 2015 Megan Nicole, Anna Grace Barlow, Alyson Stoner Summer Forever
"About Tonight" Megan Nicole
"Big Time" None
"Pulled Back Down" 2020 Within Earshot, Britney Johnson Within Earshot: Anthems For The In-Between
"This Nearly Was Mine" 2021 None R&H Goes Pop!

Music videos

Title Year Director
"This Nearly Was Mine" 2021 Jeff Barry & Shawn Willis

Awards

In 2011, he received a Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor. In May 2025, he was nominated for a Broadway.com Audience Choice Award in the category of Favorite Replacement Actor for his performance in The Great Gatsby.

References

  1. ↑ Ryan McCartan [@ryanmccartan] (September 8, 2013). ""@NJBergs: My middle name is jerome" reppin' proud. Best middle name ever. Nathan Jerome and Ryan Jerome #ForLife" (Tweet). Retrieved January 30, 2020 – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 "Ryan McCartan". Hollywood.com. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Ryan McCartan on Instagram: "26 🎂"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Minnetonka graduate to star in Wicked on Broadway". Twin Cities. September 5, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Eden Prairie High School Principal Conn McCartan". USA Today. November 25, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Conn McCartan Retires As Perpich Arts High School Principal". perpich.mn.gov. June 2023.
  7. ↑ Skinner, Quinton (January 8, 2007). "Review: 'Disney's High School Musical'". Variety. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  8. ↑ Denette, Kelsey (March 21, 2011). "Minnetonka High School Presents MN's First Phantom of the Opera Production". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  9. ↑ Hershberg, Marc (June 26, 2017). "Jimmy Awards Jump-Start Broadway Careers". Forbes. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  10. ↑ Craig Turpin (May 4, 2016). "Disney's Liv and Maddie stars perform at N.J. balloon festival". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved February 20, 2017. Ryan McCartan appears as recurring character Diggie on the show, which airs on Sunday nights.
  11. ↑ Lesas, Sylvie (July 9, 2015). "R.L. Stine's Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls Releases on DVD and Digital HD September 29, 2015". Evigshed Mag. Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  12. ↑ Osmanski, Stephanie (September 29, 2015). "Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan Announce Their Band Name". M Magazine. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  13. ↑ Johnson, Zach (October 2, 2015). "Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan Release 'Written in the Stars' Music Video as Duo The Girl and the Dreamcatcher". E!. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Alexia Fernández (October 6, 2016). "Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan Split Less Than Six Months After Getting Engaged". People. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  15. ↑ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (January 4, 2016). "TV News Roundup: Victoria Justice to Star in Fox's 'Rocky Horror' Special & More". Variety. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Ryan McCartan Joins WICKED As Fiyero Beginning September 11". BroadwayWorld. August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  17. ↑ Lefkowitz, Andy (May 14, 2019). "Wicked Welcomes Hannah Corneau as Elphaba in Broadway Debut". Broadway.com. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  18. ↑ Steiman, Harvey (July 24, 2019). "Review: 'South Pacific' at Aspen Music Festival". Aspen Times.
  19. ↑ "Ryan McCartan & Taylor Iman Jones to Lead Off-Broadway Musical Scotland, PA; Full Cast Set". Broadway.com. July 3, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  20. ↑ "25 Magical Years of Disney on Broadway Concert Streamed For BroadwayCares-Equity Fights AIDS COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund - Times Square Chronicles". t2conline.com. April 6, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  21. ↑ Gans, Andrew (February 18, 2020). "Ciara Renée and McKenzie Kurtz Are Frozen's New Elsa and Anna on Broadway Starting February 18". Playbill. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  22. ↑ Gans, Andrew (May 14, 2020). "Broadway's Frozen Will Not Reopen Post-Pandemic". Playbill.
  23. ↑ Brunner, Raven (March 1, 2022). "Ryan McCartan Joins Frozen North American Tour For Limited Run". Playbill. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  24. ↑ Gans, Andrew (June 28, 2022). "Ryan McCartan Will Return to Cast of Disney's Frozen Tour". Playbill. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  25. ↑ "'The Winchesters' boss talks complicating things for John and Mary with those new characters". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  26. 1 2 "Ryan McCartan and Kanisha Marie Feliciano Will Star in Lyric Opera of Chicago's West Side Story". Playbill. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  27. ↑ "West Side Story Musical Review – A Beautiful Return to Chicago's Lyric Stage". Splash Magazines Worldwide: Adding Style to Your Life. June 12, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  28. ↑ "West Side Story at the Lyric is a masterful production of a perfect show |". June 17, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  29. ↑ Wild, Stephi. "Ryan McCartan Will Lead Off-Broadway Premiere of Lone Star This Fall". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  30. 1 2 Cristi, A. A. "Reeve Carney, Ryan McCartan, Javier Munoz And More Lead FAUST: THE CONCERT At The Soraya". BroadwayWorld.com.
  31. ↑ "Ryan McCartan Will Be Broadway's New The Great Gatsby". Playbill.
  32. ↑ "Ryan McCartan to Take Over Title Role in The Great Gatsby on Broadway in January". Broadway.com.
  33. ↑ Masseron, Meg Ryan McCartan, Shereen Pimentel Will Star in Washington National Opera's West Side Story, Playbill, February 17, 2026
  34. ↑ "See Ryan McCartan Tower Over Kirstin Chenoweth and Dove Cameron". WhoSay. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  35. ↑ Vulpo, Mike (October 5, 2016). "Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan Call Off Their Engagement". E! News. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  36. ↑ "Sam & Ryan - YouTube". Retrieved February 5, 2021 – via YouTube.
  37. ↑ "We Broke Up and You Didn't Notice". September 22, 2023 – via YouTube.
  38. ↑ "Announcement Post". Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via YouTube.
  39. ↑ McNamara, Brittney (November 2, 2016). "Why Ryan McCartan Spent Halloween in the Hospital". Teen Vogue. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  40. ↑ Bowling, Suzanna (November 7, 2019). "Ryan McCartan Talks About Being Sexually Abused and How He Has Conquered and Won". Times Square Chronicle. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  41. ↑ Getting Drunk And Gossiping! (Disney Channel, Friendships, & More), February 26, 2021, retrieved December 13, 2023
  42. ↑ Your Assumptions About Us Were So Accurate It's Scary... (reacting to assumptions about us!), March 31, 2021, retrieved December 13, 2023
  43. ↑ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (April 7, 2015). "Watch: Bella Thorne & Zendaya Reunite on 'K.C. Undercover' (Exclusive Clip)". Variety. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  44. ↑ "Frozen's Ryan McCartan Joins Off-Broadway Cast of Lone Star | Playbill". Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  45. ↑ Red Bull Theater The Imaginary Invalid
  46. ↑ "All-Star Concert of Follies Plays Carnegie Hall June 20 | Playbill".
  47. ↑ The Great Gatsby at the Broadway Theatre credits AboutTheArtists
  48. ↑ Gans, Andrew Eva Noblezada Will Return to Broadway's The Great Gatsby in February; Reeve Carney Joins Cast in March Playbill, January 14, 2026
  49. ↑ Gans, Andre. "Ryan McCartan Returns to Broadway's The Great Gatsby July 27; Senzel Ahmady Joins Cast", Playbill, July 27, 2026
  50. ↑ "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again". iTunes Store. October 21, 2016.
  51. ↑ "The Opposite – EP by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. May 18, 2018.
  52. ↑ "Seventh Avenue – EP by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. September 20, 2019.
  53. ↑ "When You Went Away - Single by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. January 12, 2017.
  54. ↑ "Everything - Single by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. February 14, 2017.
  55. ↑ "Right Now - Single by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. November 17, 2017.
  56. ↑ "Changed My Mind - Single by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. March 29, 2018.
  57. ↑ "He Don't Know You - Single by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. May 7, 2018.
  58. ↑ "Acting Like You Don't - Single by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. September 6, 2019.
  59. ↑ "High and Low - Single by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. October 30, 2020.
  60. ↑ "Politician - Single by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. January 22, 2021.
  61. ↑ "Pink and Green - Single by Ryan McCartan". iTunes Store. March 26, 2021.
  62. ↑ "Ryan McCartan 'This Nearly Was Mine' R&H Goes Pop! (Official Music Video)". March 27, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021 – via YouTube.
  63. ↑ "2011 Jimmy Awards | The National High School Musical Theatre Awards". jimmyawards.com. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  64. ↑ Death Becomes Her, Maybe Happy Ending, Oh, Mary! and More Earn Nominations for the 2025 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards Broadway.com, May 5, 2025