He’s seeing his name in lights — and on them too.
Colton Ryan is still getting used to spotting his image on street lamp banners throughout the Theater District.
“Every time I take a new block home, I’m like, ‘Oh hey, me,'” said Ryan of the nearly 100 flags bearing his likeness.
“It’s pretty wild, honestly.”
The 27-year-old — who this year was nominated for his first Tony Award for his portrayal of Jimmy Doyle, the leading man in “New York, New York” — was at first unaware of his high-flying honor.
“I was asked to approve a photo and I did, but I didn’t know that’s where it was going,” he said of the banners, which feature a shot of him and his costar, Anna Uzele.
In the musical, nominated for nine Tonys, he plays the role of Robert De Niro originated in the 1977 film of the same name.
The Broadway star “didn’t find it terribly daunting” to be following in the A-lister’s shoes.
One of the “New York, New York” banners, which features Ryan and his costar Anna Uzele, is on Broadway between 51st and 52nd Streets.Angela Barbuti“When you accept a role and his name is in the same sentence … there’s so much gravitas already just built in that I don’t have to work so hard,” Ryan told The Post.
The Kentucky native never tires of the iconic titular song made famous by Frank Sinatra.
Ryan made his Broadway debut in 2016 as an understudy in “Dear Evan Hansen.”Stefano GiovanniniWhenever he hears it on the radio or TikTok, he finds himself humming along.
“It’s the power of the song,” he said. ‘It is freaky.”
The words, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere,” hold true for the Kentucky native, who landed his first gig on the Great White Way — as an understudy in “Dear Evan Hansen” — while he was still a senior in college.
“By the next week, I needed to find a place to stay,” he said. Luckily, his then-girlfriend-now-fiancée Adrian Grace Bumpas was already living in Hamilton Heights with “very kind” roommates.
The actor plays an impressive 13 instruments on stage.Paul KolnikHe has also appeared on television, and in 2022, starred in Hulu’s “The Girl From Plainville,” alongside Chloe Sevigny and Elle Fanning.
The actresses came to see their former colleague on stage — and both times, he was “a nervous wreck.”.
“I was like, ‘Oh God, now they know the secret –I’m a total nerd. I love to sing and dance,'” he said.
Although he wasn’t required to, Ryan wanted to learn to play all the instruments his character, a jazz pianist, is proficient in — piano, ukulele, melodica, mandolin, cymbals, cowbell, claves, maracas, udu, tambourine, drum and saxophone. (He was already skilled in the tuba, which is the 13th instrument.)
There haven’t been any mishaps during the show’s tap number, which is performed on a steel beam.Paul Kolnik“I know how much I would hate it if I saw someone faking it,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night.”
There is also an intricate tap number, where he and 11 castmates dance along a steel beam, the setting reminiscent of the famous 1932 photo of construction workers eating lunch suspended in the air.
He also wasn’t obligated to master the routine but pushed himself. “‘Well, you’re the lead guy, you can step away when the tap really starts.’ I was like, ‘No dammit,'” he recalled.
So far there haven’t been any mishaps during the impressive number, and he hopes he doesn’t cause the first.
“I cannot believe I’m going to say this, but if one of them could fall first off it, then I’d be really happy,” he said. “Cause I know it’s gonna be me.”
