#163 | Ryan M. Luévano | 57 Bus

Playwright Ryan M. Luévano on his musical 57 Bus, La Lavadora, and life as a writer and theatre critic in LA. Ryan is a Latinx award-winning playwright, screenwriter, talent manager, and theatre critic in Los Angeles. Recently, Ryan's musical "57 Bus" was selected for the Latine Musical Theatre Lab's Table Reading Series 2023, where he collaborated closely with dramaturg Amauta M. Firmino (SLAVE PLAY). In 2021, he was awarded the prestigious Artists-in-Residence title at Chateau d'Orquevaux in France and received the Denis Diderot Grant for his contributions to "57 Bus." Additionally, his play "La Lavadora" won the Full Circle Players' New Works Play Festival in 2021, and his new play "Dance Plague" had a NorCal premiere at Contra Costa School of Performing Arts in Walnut Creek, CA, in 2023. Notably, "La Lavadora" was a finalist in the 2023 New Works Festival at the Santa Monica Theatre Guild, held at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, and a semi-finalist in the Screencraft Stage Play Competition. Most recently his musical 57 Bus was selected to participate in the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival in NYC. To learn more about Ryan: http://www.ryanmluevano.com Chapters 0:00 Welcome Ryan M. Luévano 2:36 Growing up around Pasadena 5:06 Beginning band 7:40 Why music is primal 10:11 Watching the stage from the orchestra pit 12:41 A musician living in his car 15:17 Great composers struggled too 17:52 A master's in musicology 20:25 Teaching without training 23:02 Music directing big orchestras 25:40 Everyone loves a tap number 28:14 The seed of directing 30:44 A developmental workshop 33:16 Structuring a story 35:47 Seeing shows he couldn't afford 38:23 A collection of plays 40:56 A writers' group 43:30 Playwriting competitions 46:01 When a production elevates your writing 48:37 Big casts and funding 51:12 Reading 100 screenplays 53:48 Research is his best friend 56:23 A first horror screenplay 58:59 Funding the artistic soul 1:01:34 What gets funded in theatre 1:04:05 Nonprofit theatre 1:06:39 Shrinking attention spans 1:09:17 $300 million movies 1:11:54 Writing without chasing deadlines 1:14:30 Nobody reads anything 1:17:02 More than words on a page 1:19:38 Watching an audience enjoy your work 1:22:09 Staying open to opportunity 1:24:44 Supporting others creatively 1:27:22 Shutting out the world to write 1:29:59 A short film 1:32:35 A star on the way out 1:35:06 Open to assignments 1:37:36 Good energy attracts 1:40:12 A booking streak 1:42:47 A magician's personality 1:45:18 Becoming a manager 1:47:54 The ideal client 1:50:26 Why some actors always work 1:53:03 Until next time The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com