School: Junior at Hendrick Hudson High School
Accomplishment: A winning performance in the high school play and a noteworthy acting career.
Key to Awesomeness: Noah Ruff, already an accomplished actor, landed the lead in the Starboard Stars Drama Club’s production of “The Man Who Came to Dinner”—a show that will be performed on Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5 at Hendrick Hudson High School.
His theater credits are impressive: Off-Broadway shows with the Irish Reparatory Theater and The Roundabout Theater Company, a part in a musical performed at Jazz at Lincoln center, several roles in shows at the Westchester Broadway Theater, Tarrytown Music Hall and at the Yorktown Stage.
The 16-year old performer says he is thrilled about his current role. “'The Man Who Came to Dinner' is a phenomenal show,” Ruff says. “My character is a combination of cruel and hilarious and you hate him, but you can’t stop laughing.”
The production’s co-Director, Suzanne Schneider felt that Ruff was more prepared for his audition than any other student. “Noah is incredibly talented and ridiculously funny. It was obvious that he knew and understood the character very well from the beginning.”
Ruff began his acting career in summer camps when he was seven years old, he says, and has felt very comfortable on stage. “It has never felt like work or a chore for me. It is hard to describe but it has been something I have always been able to do.”
Offstage, Ruff, the youngest of three siblings, says he says he likes to play tennis, hang out with friends, practice trumpet and “just be a kid.”
As for a future in acting and performing, the high school junior says he is not so sure. “I am living in the moment—I am having fun and plan to continue enjoying what I am doing right now.”
