Ryan J. Haddad is an actor and playwright. He made his off-Broadway playwriting debut at The Public Theater with a sold-out, extended run of Dark Disabled Stories, co-produced by The Bushwick Starr. The production earned him the Obie Award for Best New American Play, along with Lucille Lortel, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle nominations. Additional stage credits include his autobiographical solo play Hi, Are You Single? (Woolly Mammoth/IAMA, Helen Hayes nomination), american (tele)visions (NYTW/Theater Mitu, Lortel nomination), The Watering Hole (Signature), and his cabaret Falling for Make Believe (Joe’s Pub/Under the Radar). TV: “A Murder at the End of the World” (Hulu) and “The Politician” (Netflix). Haddad received the Drama Desk’s 2023 Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award, Vineyard Theatre’s 2021 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, and a 2020 Disability Futures Fellowship. His writing has been published in the New York Times, Out Magazine, and Alice Wong’s anthology Disability Intimacy. He is an alum of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group and a former Queer|Art Performance and Playwriting Fellow, under the mentorship of Moe Angelos. @ryanjhaddad
Danny Sharron (he/him) is a theater director with a focus on developing new plays and musicals, dedicated to elevating the stories of the LGBTQ+, Jewish, and Arab communities. Over the past fifteen years, he has developed and directed work with The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Roundabout Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Woolly Mammoth, Ars Nova, LAByrinth Theater Company, Primary Stages, Ma-Yi Theater Company, and New York Stage and Film. Danny was most recently a Next Stage Directing Resident with The Drama League. He is also a recipient of New York Theatre Workshop's 2050 Fellowship, Williamstown's Bill Foeller Fellowship, The Drama League's New York Fellowship, and is an alumnus of the Ars Nova Director's Troupe. For five years, Danny was the Senior Associate Director on Dear Evan Hansen (Tony Award for Best Musical), overseeing four companies: Broadway, West End, Toronto, and the U.S. National Tour. He is currently the US Associate Director on the Broadway revival of Cabaret. NYC-based. Proud member of SDC.
When Ryan falls for a man he just met, he’s ready for the romance of his dreams. But as their connection grows, Ryan learns that new heights of joy can bring deep insecurities to the surface. Disarmingly vulnerable and playfully provocative, Hold Me in the Water is a funny and tender solo play about the passion and intimacy of first love.
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“Haddad is an actor and writer of extraordinary charm. Disarmingly witty, immensely likable… he will make you laugh.”
— The New York Times
“Haddad is a comedic genius; with his sly grin, playful inflections, and flirtatious gestures, he always manages to secure a laugh from the audience.”
— TheaterMania
Haddad is an actor and writer of extraordinary charm. Disarmingly witty, immensely likable… he will make you laugh.
Haddad is a comedic genius; with his sly grin, playful inflections, and flirtatious gestures, he always manages to secure a laugh from the audience.
