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Zach Allen Snyder
"I, myself, am strange and unusual..."
Hi!
I'm Zach Snyder...
and you better strap in 'cause the library is OPEN.
A weirdo small-town musical theatre boy obsessed with Harry Potter, Ethel Merman,
and 90's boy bands who moves to the Big Apple?
That doesn't sound like ANYTHING I've ever heard before.
I grew up in the small town of Warren, Pennsylvania, or as we like to call it sometimes:
Pennsyltucky -- Where you see many Amish folks dressed for the GODS in their horse and buggy, a slew of people you might see on PeopleOfWalmart, French Fries that come as a salad and sandwich topping (Yes...I said it...Fries ON a salad or sandwich), and a whole lot of sports fans carrying around a Terrible Towel that smells of beer, sweat, and crushed Super Bowl dreams.
Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE my hometown, but from the young age of fetus I knew
I was destined to spread my weird in a whole different kind of city. One that wasn't far off
from the rarities you would see in Pennsylvania, but had a certain "Je ne sais quoi" to it...
subway rats, the sweet smell of garbage on a hot Wednesday in July, people that like to talk
to imaginary sidewalk friends, and the lovely hoard of tourists constantly stopping like the
deer that you hit when you first got your license at 16 years old.
I really wish that I had psychic abilities to see the future then because, you know...I eventually decided to go to college, put myself into debt, and go into a career that encompassed ALL of these things.
One day, in 6th grade, a girl in my class convinced me that she was cast in the summer children's theatre production of The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy...and I just HAD to be the Cowardly Lion. So one day as she and I were walking by the local professional theatre, I noticed that the box office was open. I decided to march in and exclaim proudly "I am here to be your Cowardly Lion." All of a sudden the girl I had been walking with ran away and the puzzled lady at the desk said that the show had not been cast yet. However, she informed me that auditions would be happening soon, and that I should also audition for the upcoming production of Jesus Christ Superstar, as they were looking to fill out the ensemble with all ages. I gained a part and a solo all at the big age of 11 years old.
My solo line was:
"See my eyes...I bleed from them..."
How lovely for an 11 year-old to be singing that in front of Grandma.
From there I somehow ended up in the world of Musical Theatre and I have been in love ever since. So much in love, that I decided to attend the University at Buffalo (that was the debt part from earlier) to start my adventure and career gaining a piece of paper known as the coveted
BFA in Music Theatre
along with a plethora of networking and experiences through the UB Department of Theatre and Dance. I continued to hone my craft, gaining every comedic role possible from the bumbling idiots, to the loveable yet not-so-smart best friend (I always hoped this wasn't type casting) to a crazy and untamed transvestite. My motto has always been "The more intricate and complex the character, the better the role," and I have enjoyed portraying these complex humans (and creatures) again and again. Like my professor at UB, Stephen McKinley Henderson, once said after seeing me play Frank N. Furter in Rocky Horror:
"You like to play FREAKS, don't you? You're a freak."
To which I said: "Yes...Yes, I do"
My abilities in singing, acting, and especially dance have soared since attending and enduring the rigorous program at the University at Buffalo. Now, I have worked on several shows and sang in venues all over the world while studying at the University level and following graduation. A national tour as well as several regional theatre credits later, with Broadway hopefully on the horizon, I can say I am incredibly happy and grateful for the direction my career path has gone.
Until that BIG BREAK comes, I am constantly auditioning, learning how to understand and speak German, working on new projects with friends all over the city, keeping up with three dance classes and a 30-minute voice lesson weekly, spending copious amounts of time binging way too many series on Netflix, seeing a Broadway show once in a while, and working at Ellen's Stardust Diner: Home of the Singing Waitstaff.
Oh! And I also eat, sleep, and sometimes breathe here and there.
The life of an actor is a busy, crazy, confusing, emotional, and fun rollercoaster ride...but it's the life that I love to live and the career that keeps on giving. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Whether you're a casting director or someone who is prospectively going to be moving to New York City or jump-starting their career -- If you've stuck with me this far, I want to say THANK YOU for learning about me and what makes me tick. I am an actor, but the most important thing is that I am a human first. Because after all being a human first opens our minds to the knowledge of the world and the people around us.
And that is our main goal in Theatre: To live truthfully under imaginary circumstances, and to be the purest, most authentic extension of yourself and the life of the human you're presenting
that you can be.
And that's what I strive to be through my work: Simply me.
When I was a kid, my parents and grandparents noticed I loved music and theatre.
So, my family enrolled me in every class possible to surround me with the arts. I tried singing
lessons at the age of 7 (quit them); I tried acting lessons (quit them); And I tried dance lessons
at the age of 10 (quit them because I couldn't do a chassé or figure out how to skip like
Dorothy going down that Yellow Brick Road).
Pictured: Holli Simme, BFA Dance - University at Buffalo
© 2020 by Zach Snyder.
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