- Dylan Riley Snyder
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Dylan Riley Snyder Born Dylan Riley Jacob Snyder
January 24, 1997
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.A.Occupation Actor, singer, dancer Years active 2006–present Website DylanRileySnyder.com Dylan Riley Snyder (born January 24, 1997) is an American film, television and musical theatre performer. Beginning his acting career in community theatre at the age of five, Snyder is known for his acting, singing, and dancing abilities, starring as "Young Tarzan" in the 2006 Broadway musical, Tarzan, as "Timmy" in the 2009 feature film, Life During Wartime and as "Milton" on the Disney channel comedy series, Kickin' It.
Contents
Early life
Snyder was born Dylan Riley Jacob Snyder on January 24, 1997 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the son of Ashley and Les Snyder.[1][2][3] Snyder has one sibling, an older sister named Cassidy, born in 1985.[1][3] His older sister was involved in community theatre, and he grew up attending her musical theatre rehearsals.[1][2] At the age of four, a director noticed he could take direction, and at the age of five, his family began letting him audition, leading to his first speaking role as "Tiny Tim" in a community theatre production of A Christmas Carol.[1][2][4]
Snyder's appearance as "Tiny Tim" caught of the attention of local actor, writer and director, Tina Fitch, who was impressed with his work and would go on to cast him in several University of Alabama (U of A) productions whenever they needed a child performer.[1][5] Some of his early community theatre credits include "Dill Harris" in Theatre Tuscaloosa's production of To Kill a Mockingbird, "Michael Darling" in Theatre Tuscaloosa's production of Peter Pan, "Buster" in the U of A's production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, "Young Pippin" in the U of A's production of Pippin and "Billy Moore" in the U of A's production of Assassins.[1][2][5][6][7]
In 2003, the Snyder family moved to Petal, Mississippi.[1][2] With his boy soprano range, Snyder performed with the Mississippi Boys Choir and the Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera.[1][2][6] In 2005, he was selected for the American Boys Choir, however, it was during this time that Hurricane Katrina devastated much of Mississippi, prompting the Snyder family to move back to Alabama where family friend, Tina Fitch suggested he go to New York to try his luck in professional theatre.[1][2]
Career
In August 2005, Snyder and his mother began preparations to make the move to New York and seven months later, on his ninth birthday, Snyder and his mother settled into a Manhattan apartment, while his father remained at his job in Mississippi and his sister attended college in Alabama.[1][2][3] He soon began going on professional auditions and, after competing with hundreds of boys for the role, landed the part of "Young Tarzan" in Disney's Broadway musical adaptation of Tarzan.[1][2][3][6][8] After landing the part, Snyder studied gymnastics to meet the physical demands of the role and worked with the Disney vocal coach to learn to project his voice.[3] Snyder made his Broadway debut as "Young Tarzan" in September 2006 and, as is typical with demanding children's roles on Broadway, alternated in the role with Alex Rutherford, appearing in a total of 169 performances until the show closed in July 2007.[3][6][8]
While living in New York, Snyder continued to develop his musical theatre talents; taking ballet lessons with Yuka Kawazu, tap dance lessons with Janine Molinari, voice lessons with Richard Lissamore, dialect lessons with Amy Stoller, and etiquette lessons at the Etiquette School of Manhattan.[6] During this time he began landing work as a model, appearing in print advertorials for H & M and Lord & Taylor and in commercials for Univest Bank, Benadryl and Chuck E. Cheese's as well as breaking into television, landing lead roles in the Sesame Street segments, "Jet Side Story" and "Casablanca", as well as voicing the roles of "Griffin" and "Hound Dog" in two episodes of the Nickelodeon animated series, Wonderpets.[2][6][7][9] In February 2009, Snyder made his film debut portraying "Leo Amatog", an autistic boy who encounters a self-absorbed Chicago architect during an overnight bus trip in the short film, Valley of the Moon.[2][6][7]
In September 2009, Snyder appeared as "Timmy Maplewood" in Todd Solondz' dramatic comedy, Life During Wartime.[2][6][10] Touring the film festival circuit for almost a year before getting a limited release in July 2010, the black comedy tackled such controversial subjects as suicide, incest and pedophilia.[11] The film earned critical acclaim for its director as well as accolades for Snyder, with Variety critic Todd McCarthy writing - "The most compelling character this time around is Timmy (Dylan Riley Snyder)", and after commending the film's "superb" cast, McCarthy reserved his highest praise for Snyder writing, - "Most heart-wrenching of all is young, freckle-faced Snyder, playing a still prepubescent kid forced to cope with the messiest of adult problems and faced with potential psychological issues he can't possibly digest."[11]
In November 2009, Snyder returned to the New York stage portraying "Young Horace Robedaux" a role based on the father of Pulitzer Prize winning author, Horton Foote in the epic nine-part off-Broadway production of The Orphans' Home Cycle.[2][6][12][13] The show was critically acclaimed and Snyder, along with the rest of the cast, creative team and producers, was honored with a special Drama Desk Award saluting "the breadth of vision, which inspired the exceptional direction, performances, sets, lighting, costumes, music and sound that made The Orphans' Home Cycle the theatrical event of the season."[2][14] The play itself would also go on to win the Outer Critics Circle Award and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and ran until May 2010.[15][16]
In the summer of 2010, Snyder landed his first comedic role, co-starring as awkward honors student turned karate competitor, Milton Krupnick on the Disney XD original comedy series, Kickin' It.[2][4] Snyder had no martial arts experience prior to landing the role, and when asked about the karate aspect of the show, Snyder explained, - "When we need to do karate on the show we have choreographers teaching us the moves, but I really enjoy doing the kicks. I lived in New York for five years prior to this and while I was there I did mainly theater. I did a lot of dance so getting into karate was a little easier for me."[4] The pilot was filmed in the summer of 2010, and in November of that year, Snyder and his mother moved to Los Angeles when Disney XD announced it had green-lit the series.[2][17] Kickin' It premiered in June 2011, and quickly became Disney XD's number 1 original series in the network's history.[18] In September 2011, Disney XD announced that the show had been renewed for a second season.[18]
Personal life
Snyder is home-schooled to accommodate his acting career and lives in Los Angeles with his mother during filming for Kickin' It while his father and sister still reside in Alabama.[2][6] He is a former member of Boy Scouts of America and is one of the members of Broadway Kids as well as one of the founding members of Broadway Kids Care.[2][6] When he isn't busy with work and school, Snyder enjoys solving Rubik's cubes, origami, juggling, billiards and chess.[2][6]
When asked about about his long-term career goals, Snyder acknowledged an interest in one day returning to a singing career, but also expressed his passion to continue acting, saying - "Yes I do (want to pursue singing), but that would be a little farther down the road. I would love to continue with acting for as long as possible and see where that leads me. My back up plan is going into aerospace engineering or computer engineering, but for now I will focus on acting."[4]
Résumé
Film Year Film Role Notes 2009 Valley of the Moon Leo Amatog Short film 2009 Life During Wartime Timmy Maplewood Feature film Television Year Show Role Notes 200? Sesame Street (Principal performer) 2 segments 2008-2009 Wonderpets Griffin / Hound Dog (voice) 2 episodes 2011 Game On! Himself 1 episode: Pair of Kings vs. Kickin' It 2011–present Kickin' It Milton Krupnick Co-starring Theatre Year Show Role Notes 2006-2007 Tarzan: The Broadway Musical Young Tarzan Broadway 2009-2010 The Orphans' Home Cycle Horace / Buddy / Horace Jr. Off-Broadway Awards
Awards Year Award Category Role Film / Show Result Ref. 2010 Gotham Award Best Ensemble Cast
(shared with Charlotte Rampling, Allison Janney, Rich Pecci, Michael Lerner, Shirley Henderson, Ally Sheedy, Michael Kenneth Williams, Ciarán Hinds and Chris Marquette)Timmy Life During Wartime Nominated [10] 2010 Drama Desk Award Special Award
Saluting "the breadth of vision, which inspired the exceptional direction, performances, sets, lighting, costumes, music and sound that made The Orphans' Home Cycle the theatrical event of the season."
(shared with cast, creative team and producers)Horace, Buddy, Horace Jr. The Orphans' Home Cycle Honored [14] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Dylan Riley Snyder - Bio". DylanRileySnyder.com. http://www.dylanrileysnyder.com/bio.html. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Dylan Riley Snyder - "Milton"". DisneyXDMedianet.com. http://www.disneyxdmedianet.com/web/showpage/showpage.aspx?program_id=3136029&type=snyder. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Actor: Dylan Riley Snyder". TuscaloosaNews.com. November 22, 2006. http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061122/TMAG07/61121005/1145.
- ^ a b c d "The Meet & Greet: 'Kickin' It' Star Dylan Riley Snyder". CeleBuzz.com. June 11, 2011. http://www.celebuzz.com/2011-06-11/the-meet-greet-kickin-it-star-dylan-riley-snyder/.
- ^ a b "Tuscaloosa's Tarzan". TuscaloosaNews.com. September 17, 2006. http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?p=1&tc=pg&AID=/20060917/NEWS/609170333.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Dylan Riley Snyder - Resume PDF". DylanRileySnyder.com. http://www.dylanrileysnyder.com/Resume.htm. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Disney's Dylan Riley Snyder to Appear at Tuscaloosa Fundraiser". BroadwayWorld.com. April 26, 2011. http://birmingham.broadwayworld.com/article/Disneys-Dylan-Riley-Snyder-to-Appear-at-Theatre-Tuscaloosa-Fundraiser-57-20110426.
- ^ a b "Internet Broadway Database - Dylan Riley Snyder". IBDB.com. http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=459080. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ "IMDb Resume for Dylan Riley Snyder". IMDb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2315359/resume. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ a b "2010 Award Nominees - Best Ensemble Performance". GothamIFP.org. http://gotham.ifp.org. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ a b "Variety Reviews - Life During Wartime". Variety.com. September 3, 2009. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940932?refcatid=3716.
- ^ "Dylan Riley Snyder Theatre Credits". BroadwayWorld.com. http://broadwayworld.com/people/Dylan_Riley_Snyder/. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ "In 'Orphans' Cycle, a Foote Family Tree". New York Times. December 9, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/theater/13cheat.html.
- ^ a b "2009-2010 55th Drama Desk Awards". DramaDesk.com. http://dramadesk.com/2009_2010dd.html. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ "Outer Critics Circle Awards for 2009-2010". OuterCritics.org. http://www.outercritics.org/AwardArchives.aspx?_y=2009-2010. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ "New York Drama Critics' Circle - Past Awards 2009-2010". DramaCritics.org. http://www.dramacritics.org/dc_pastawards.html#year2010. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ "Disney XD Orders 'Wasabi Warriors'". TV By The Numbers. November 11, 2010. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/11/11/disney-xd-orders-wasabi-warriors-a-new-martial-arts-inspired-comedy-series/71759/.
- ^ a b "Disney XD renews 'Kickin' It'". Variety.com. September 20, 2011. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118043122.
External links
Categories:- 1997 births
- Actors from Alabama
- Actors from New York City
- American child actors
- American child models
- American film actors
- American musical theatre actors
- American stage actors
- American television actors
- Living people
- People from Manhattan
- People from Tuscaloosa, Alabama
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