Ruthie Sommers Where Every Performance Tells a Story

Where Every Performance Tells a Story

Ruthie Sommers

Stories, ideas & perspectives — thoughtfully written, beautifully told.

Stop Trying to Be Entertaining — Start Trying to Be There
Cover story

Stop Trying to Be Entertaining — Start Trying to Be There

There's a version of showing up that looks like connection but is really just a more sophisticated performance. The most powerful moments I've had with audiences, fans, and collaborators had nothing to do with being on — and everything to do with finally putting it down.

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Latest Articles

Quiet Seasons Aren't Wasted Time — They're Where the Real Work Happens 02
Personal Journey

Quiet Seasons Aren't Wasted Time — They're Where the Real Work Happens

There's this unspoken rule in the entertainment world that you're supposed to be interesting every single day. But somewhere between the big performances and the highlight reels, I discovered that the most boring stretches of my life were quietly building the best version of my work.
The Roles Nobody Wrote for You Are Often the Ones That Define You 03
Behind the Curtain

The Roles Nobody Wrote for You Are Often the Ones That Define You

The gigs you didn't plan for, the last-minute calls, the pivots nobody saw coming — those moments have a funny way of becoming the highlights of your career reel. Here's why staying loose and ready has opened more doors for me than any five-year plan ever could.
Fame Is Easy. Being Seen for Real Is the Whole Point. 04
Personal Journey

Fame Is Easy. Being Seen for Real Is the Whole Point.

There's a version of success that looks great from the outside and feels completely hollow on the inside. Ruthie gets into the difference between having an audience that knows your name and having one that actually gets what you're trying to say — and why she'll always pick the latter.
Your Life Is Not a Content Strategy: On Keeping Something Sacred for Yourself 05
Personal Journey

Your Life Is Not a Content Strategy: On Keeping Something Sacred for Yourself

There's a version of yourself that belongs to the audience, and a version that belongs entirely to you. Figuring out which is which — and actually protecting that boundary — might be the most important work you do off stage. Here's what I've learned about living fully without turning every moment into a performance.
I Used to Walk Onstage to Be Liked. Here's What Happened When I Finally Quit. 06
Personal Journey

I Used to Walk Onstage to Be Liked. Here's What Happened When I Finally Quit.

For years I confused being entertaining with actually mattering to the people in the room. The moment I stopped chasing likability was the moment my audience finally showed up for real. Here's the uncomfortable truth I had to sit with first.
Chasing Likes Almost Cost Me My Audience: What I Learned When I Stopped Performing for the Algorithm 07
Behind the Curtain

Chasing Likes Almost Cost Me My Audience: What I Learned When I Stopped Performing for the Algorithm

There was a season where I had more followers than I'd ever had, and I felt more disconnected from my audience than ever before. Turns out, being seen and being known are two completely different things — and I had to lose one to finally find the other.
What the Wings Taught Me That the Spotlight Never Could 08
Behind the Curtain

What the Wings Taught Me That the Spotlight Never Could

There's a particular kind of freedom that only exists when nobody's watching you that closely. Stepping out of the lead role didn't shrink my world — it quietly blew it wide open. Here's what I discovered when the pressure to be perfect finally got out of my way.
Are You Performing for the Room or for the People in It? 09
Behind the Curtain

Are You Performing for the Room or for the People in It?

There's a version of performing that's really just a long, elaborate audition for love — and most of us have been there. But somewhere between chasing the applause and actually reaching someone, the whole reason you got on stage in the first place starts to come back into focus. Here's what I've learned about the difference, and why it changes everything.
When the Applause Becomes the Whole Point — And Why That's a Problem 10
Behind the Curtain

When the Applause Becomes the Whole Point — And Why That's a Problem

There's a version of performing that looks like passion but is really just hunger — hunger for someone else to tell you that you're enough. Learning to tell the difference between creating from truth and creating from need might be the most important skill nobody teaches you in any conservatory or workshop.
The People Who Handed Me the Next Version of Myself 11
Personal Journey

The People Who Handed Me the Next Version of Myself

No entertainer gets anywhere alone — and I mean that in the most literal, humbling way possible. Looking back at the directors, choreographers, and fellow performers who cracked me open and rebuilt me better, I'm struck by how little I understood their impact in the moment. These are the stories I don't tell enough.
The Weird Little Rituals That Hold My Whole World Together 12
Behind the Curtain

The Weird Little Rituals That Hold My Whole World Together

Forget the glamour for a second — the real story of a working entertainer lives in the unglamorous, oddly specific routines that happen before the lights ever come on. I'm talking cold brew at a specific temperature, a playlist that hasn't changed in three years, and a breathing exercise I learned from a yoga teacher I saw exactly twice. It's not pretty, but it's mine.
I Tried the Polished Version of Myself Once. It Was Exhausting and Nobody Believed It. 13
Behind the Curtain

I Tried the Polished Version of Myself Once. It Was Exhausting and Nobody Believed It.

There's a version of me that has great lighting, perfect answers, and a very clean narrative arc. I built her once, briefly, and she nearly drove me out of the thing I love most. This is about why I walked away from the curated version of my story — and why the messy, complicated truth turned out to be the most powerful thing I could offer an audience.
Every Door That Closed on Me Was Actually Building the One I'd Walk Through 14
Personal Journey

Every Door That Closed on Me Was Actually Building the One I'd Walk Through

The auditions I bombed, the callbacks that ghosted me, the roles that went to someone else — they didn't derail my career. They built it. Here's why the nos I collected over the years turned out to be some of the most important credits I never got to list on a résumé.
Stop Waiting for Someone to Cast You — Start Creating the Show Yourself 15
Behind the Curtain

Stop Waiting for Someone to Cast You — Start Creating the Show Yourself

The entertainment industry used to hold all the keys. Casting directors, producers, gatekeepers of every shape — they decided who got seen and when. But that model is cracking wide open, and the performers who are thriving right now are the ones who stopped asking for permission and started building their own stages.
That Tiny Role Nobody Noticed? It Quietly Rewrote My Entire Career 16
Personal Journey

That Tiny Role Nobody Noticed? It Quietly Rewrote My Entire Career

Some of the biggest turning points in my career didn't come with fanfare or standing ovations. They came dressed up as throwaway gigs, blink-and-you'll-miss-it parts, and Saturday night performances in half-empty rooms. Looking back, those were the moments that changed absolutely everything.
The Art That Made Me: A Look Inside the Playlist of My Creative Soul 17
Personal Journey

The Art That Made Me: A Look Inside the Playlist of My Creative Soul

Every performer is a collection of everything they've ever loved. The songs that broke me open, the films that rewired how I see a scene, the performers who made me want to be better — this is my creative DNA, laid out track by track. Pull up a chair, because this one gets personal.
Always Ready, Never Starring: What Being the Understudy Actually Teaches You 18
Behind the Curtain

Always Ready, Never Starring: What Being the Understudy Actually Teaches You

Nobody dreams of being the backup. But some of the most important lessons I've ever learned about performing — and honestly, about life — came from standing in the wings, script memorized, waiting for a moment that might never come. Here's what playing the understudy actually taught me about showing up when it counts.
Scared Every Time, Grateful Every Time: Why I Keep Choosing the Projects That Terrify Me 19
Personal Journey

Scared Every Time, Grateful Every Time: Why I Keep Choosing the Projects That Terrify Me

There's a very specific feeling I've learned to pay attention to — a tightness in the chest, a voice in my head saying 'you're not ready for this.' I used to let that feeling stop me. Now it's basically my compass. Here's why I've made fear my most reliable career advisor, and what I've figured out along the way about saying yes to the things that genuinely scare you.
When Everything Goes Wrong and the Show Gets Real: Lessons the Stage Taught Me by Breaking Its Own Rules 20
Behind the Curtain

When Everything Goes Wrong and the Show Gets Real: Lessons the Stage Taught Me by Breaking Its Own Rules

Some of the most honest moments I've ever had on stage started with something going completely sideways. A missed cue, a forgotten lyric, a prop that refused to cooperate — these weren't failures. They turned out to be the whole point. Here's what the unscripted moments taught me that years of careful rehearsal simply couldn't.