When talking to Hannah Ryan, it’s evident that the RBHS senior is very talented in not just school, but singing as well. Ryan shares her passion and love for singing “I don’t want to add to people’s difficulties, I want to take them away,” Ryan said.
Ryan answers questions about her confidence, how she’s grown as a singer and shares about lessons she has learned throughout high school.
Q: How have you grown as a person since freshman year?
A: “I’m definitely more sure of myself and my friendships. I’ve definitely learned to stick up for myself more and speak up when I feel like I’m being wronged.”
Q: Was there a moment when you had to speak up for yourself or stand up for yourself?
A: “Yeah, freshman year. I had a lot of friend issues, so I did have to confront a few of them and tell them how they were making me feel, which I used to never do. I used to just let it happen, and we’d stay friends.”
Q: You mentioned you sing, have you ever struggled with confidence while singing?
A: “Yeah, definitely. It’s one of those things that’s just very vulnerable to do. Because it’s you doing it, it’s not just like you’re playing an instrument. So I’ve definitely, especially when I was younger, [been] embarrassed when I sang. And even if people would tell me I was good, I always hated it.”
Q: Have you ever been criticized for your voice?
A: “Yes, I did have a friend [who did criticize me]. I got a part over her that she wanted, like a singing part. She told everyone that I was a bad singer and that she deserved it, and that definitely hurt a lot. One, because it was my friend. And two, I had just started getting confidence in my singing right around that time, just for her to knock me right back down. So yeah, that sucked.”
Q: What motivated you or what motivates you to keep going when it gets hard?
A: “I guess my family. I know that they’ll always be there for me, and I do want to make them proud. So I’m like, ‘Just keep going, I can do hard things, and they’ve done so much harder things.’”
Q: What’s one failure or setback that shaped who you are today?
A: “I guess just my friend drama freshman year. I think that genuinely had a huge impact on me and how I handle conflict now. Just because I was the one who had to confront them, even though the whole friend group said they had my back and then they didn’t. I was kind of on my own. I guess it taught [me that] sometimes you do have to do the scary thing, go against what other people are saying for the better of yourself.”
Q: What advice would you give your freshman self?
A: “Don’t put up with BS. Just don’t sit around and wait for things to happen. You have to make them happen. Whether you want to be friends with somebody, you have to be the one to go talk to them. […] If you want good grades, you’re going to be the one to study for it. And if someone’s trying to put you down, don’t put up with it. You don’t deserve that.”
Q: What kind of music do you enjoy singing the most?
A: “I mean, I’m a theater kid, so I do like musicals. But if it’s something more modern, I really like Laufey’s music because it’s already kind of jazzy and kind of musical theater style. So I like singing her music a lot.”
Q: What’s your favorite musical?
A: “My favorite musical? That’s a really hard question. I really, really like ‘Chicago.’ I think that’s a really good musical. It’s a good one.”
Q: What’s one moment in singing that you’ll never forget?
A: “One moment in singing I’ll never forget [was] when I was in ‘Grease.’ I was in the musical ‘Grease,’ and I was playing [Betty] Rizzo and every time I hit like […] my biggest note in my solo song, I could feel the energy shift in the audience, [so] I would go with that [as] my favorite [moment].”
Q: Were you in any other musicals?
A: “Yes I’ve been in ‘Wizard of Oz’ twice, ‘Elf the Musical,’ ‘Music Man,’ ‘Cinderella,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ ‘Mary Poppins,’ ‘By the Bog of Cats,’ ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,’ ‘Seussical,’ ‘Frozen,’ ‘Newsies,’ ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,’ ‘Adam’s Family,’ ‘Grease’ [and] ‘Anything Goes’ [for this summer]. I do [them] through Tryps, the children’s theater. I’ve done it since I was like five or four.”
Q: You’ve mentioned you were in show choir. What motivated you or why did you want to join?
A: “Honestly, my siblings are why I joined because my brother did it all four years of high school and then he graduated when I came into my freshman year. My sister was doing it and so she convinced me to do it, and they’re both so talented. So I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll try it out.’ And in the end it wasn’t for me, but it was still a really good experience as a performer.”
Q: What’s something that singing has taught you?
A:“Practice doesn’t make perfect because nobody’s perfect, but [still] practice. If you put in the work, you’ll see the results you want to see. Along the way you’re [allowed to] kind of hate it. Like if it’s bad to you, you’re going to hate it. But just know [with] the end result you’ll get there.”
Q: When did you first realize that singing was important to you?
A: “Ever since I was little I’ve always really liked it. Probably the first time my brother was singing, I was like, ‘Yo’ because all my siblings are really talented.”
Q: What’s something you’re proud of when it comes to your voice?
A: “How far I’ve come, I guess. Because [when] I look at old videos of when I was little, or not even little, just freshman year me singing, you can hear the anxiety in my voice because I know I’m not good enough. […] So now when I hear myself sing, I’m like ‘Okay that actually is good,’ and you can [tell that] I feel like I’m good as I’m singing.”
Q: What kind of person do you hope to be after graduation?
A: “I hope to be someone that makes other people’s lives easier, someone who makes other people’s lives better.”
