The Livonia senior is a professional Elvis impersonator, and has portrayed countless other celebrities and characters in shows and campus events such as Thrill the World, Legends of the Dark, Disney College Programs and CMU Marching Band where he plays tenor sax.

He even does Christopher Walken singing CMU’s fight song.

“I’ve lost count of the voices I can do,” O’Neill said. “Every time I think I’ve got it figured out, a new one comes along. It’s Ryan see, Ryan do.”

(Sara Winkler/Staff Photographer)

In middle school, O’Neill learned he had a gift for imitation. He began honing an Elvis persona at age 14.

After his grandmother invited him to perform at a nursing home, he was invited back for paid gigs. Since then, he has been his own boss in setting up performances.

“It’s kind of like being an artist,” he said, “but you are your own career.”

Jessica Hinman, an Oakland University senior from Livonia, has known O’Neill since 7th grade. In high school, they were in marching band together and, even then, she said he always made people laugh.

“I always knew he could do the Elvis thing, but not to the extent that he’s taken it,” she said.

His biggest performance as Elvis was before a crowd of 10,000 in West Virginia for Family Campers and RVers.

“Elvis is the most marketable of my talents entertainment wise,” he said. “You say ‘Elvis’ and anybody from the age of 13 and up knows what you’re talking about.”

Bringin’ the magic

O’Neill said he enjoys the work because it forces him outside his comfort zone and expands his mind.

He loves dressing up, entertaining and feeling he has achieved his best.

“It wasn’t necessarily me being a fan, it’s just that this is what I’m good at,” he said. “It’s just taking something you’re good at and going above and beyond.”

O’Neill said the highlight of his career was working over the summer as an intern in the Disney World cast. He worked as a Trolley guide and on Expedition Everest. He performed his favorite Elvis gig there at the House of Blues.

“Working for Disney was amazing,” he said. “It allows you to bring magic into the hearts of thousands of kids every day.”

Clarkston senior Alana Goeringer, president of Disney Campus Representatives at CMU, interned at Disney World with O’Neill. She was impressed with his performance there.

“Disney has a standard of how you present yourself and he’s got the stamina and energy that I knew whatever he did at Disney,” she said, “he’d be good at it.”

O’Neill is majoring in business management and hopes to work someday in Disney’s social media management.

A mark on campus

Living with O’Neill last year in Trout Hall was an exciting experience for Grand Rapids sophomore Gare Sartore.

“Going into my freshman year, I was kinda nervous about meeting new people,” he said. “But Ryan was right there to help me jump in.”

Sartore remembered how O’Neill stayed in the character of Dr. Cox from television comedy “Scrubs” for a whole night. He also described one Friday when O’Neill walked into their room with nothing to do and announced they should go to Cedar Point.

“He’s a spur of the moment kind of guy, something new everyday,” Sartore said.

Last year, O’Neill, this time playing one of the living dead, was Mount Pleasant’s event manager for Thrill the World, a worldwide simultaneous dance of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

He assumed Heath Ledger’s depiction of The Joker from “The Dark Knight” while serving as event manager for Legends of the Dark, a tour of “haunted” locations on campus.

“He has so many personalities inside of him,” Goeringer said. “This is his way of leaving his mark on campus.”

Flushing sophomore Emily Baker took over O’Neill’s position as Trout’s social director this year. She said she is thankful for all the organized filing he left behind and for his excitement which got her involved with Legends of the Dark.

When it came to describing him, however, she could only laugh.

“I don’t even know how to describe his personality,” she said. “He’s just Ryan O’Neill.”

Thrill CMU was an attempt to break the current world record for the most college students doing the “Thriller” dance, which is set at 242 people. It was held Friday in the Indoor Athletic Complex Friday. Unfortunately, Thrill CMU’s sponsors, Central Michigan Life, Moore Hall Television and Modern Rock 91.5, expected a bigger turnout. Approximately 50 students participated in the dance when 500 were expected.

Though the amount expected didn’t show up that was expected it didn’t stop students from enjoying the dance.

One student in particular, Essexville senior Adam Militello was more than happy to be participating. He has been a fan since he was four years old. This being his last year at CMU, Militello is honored to be able to pay homage to the king of pop.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think CMU would do a ‘Thriller’ dance,” Militello said. “I think it’s awesome. If I have a chance to take part in it, I will.”

When Militello was 18, he got a tattoo of Michael Jackson’s famous toe stand with ‘King of Pop’ tattooed around it. Two months ago, he added ‘never can say goodbye’ to honor his impact on the music industry.

Unexpected results

One thought was some people might have not come because of a high school football game at Kelly/Shorts stadium taking place at the same time. Carly Mills, Central Michigan Life public relations intern and Orleans senior, wasn’t aware of the game and hoped it didn’t hinder people from attending the event.

However, it didn’t stop participants from enjoying their time at the event.

“I’m happy with the outcome,” Mills said. “Everybody knew the dance really well.”

She was happy to see students participate in the event.

“It’s nice to see some faces out there,” she said. “It’s better than nothing.”

Rewarding fans

There was food, prizes, and contests for the participants provided by the sponsors at the event. Pizza was sold by Cottage Inn, 1639 E. Broomfield, and staff from 91.5 WMHW handed out Michael Jackson memorabilia.

Mills said they awarded three trophies for the best Michael Jackson participant, best residence hall attendance, and largest fraternity/sorority dance.

Larzelere Hall won the best residence hall attendance.

Muskegon freshman Kristine Stafford was happy to be awarded for having more participants from her hall. Stafford and a few of her fellow residents informed other residents of Thrill CMU and practiced together regularly.

“It’s neat to get a group of people together and involved,” Stafford said. “It was cool to imitate his dance and bring that bit of him back. It was worth it.”

Stafford said Michael Jackson was a pop culture icon and the participants made an accurate portrayal of his dance.

“I think everybody had a lot of fun, which in the end, is most important,” Mills said.

“We are hoping to break the pending record,” said Carly Mills, Central Michigan Life public relations intern and Orleans senior. “We hope that the Guinness Book of World Records will approve our record.”

The current collegiate record for the dance is 242 people performing the dance at one time. The dance will take place at 7 p.m. today in the Indoor Athletic Complex.

Thrill CMU is sponsored by Central Michigan Life, Moore Hall Television and Modern Rock 91.5.

Jeffrey Sell, a Clinton Township junior and a member of 91.5, said sponsoring the event will let students on campus hear and learn about the programs sponsoring the events.

“Thrill CMU is an interesting way for students to learn about different things at the school,” he said. “They get to try and break a record, which is cool.”

Get thrilling

Students need only their campus ID to participate. There will be food, prizes and contests for the largest hall attendance, largest fraternity or sorority attendance.

“I know a lot of students are pretty excited,” Mills said. “There have been decent turnouts for rehearsals. I’ve heard people are excited honoring Michael Jackson.”

There is a video link available at cm-life.com for students to learn the dance. Participants only have to dance for five minutes for the record to be made.

“I think this is something we could possibly break the record.” Mills said. This is a way to encourage other universities to try and break records as well. If people become interested in this event, they might want to attempt to break world records.”

Some students have shown interest in the event.

“I think this is a good way to portray Michael Jackson in a positive light,” said Midland freshman William Cynecki. “He has done a lot for pop culture and music today. It’s a good way for students to honor him.”

“Thrill CMU” is aiming to set the record to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance Nov. 13 on the Indoor Athletic Complex track bay. The event is sponsored by Central Michigan Life, Modern Rock 91.5 and Moore Hall Television.

“We wanted to put this event on because we thought it would be a great way to bring students together and bring unity to Central,” said Carly Mills, Orleans senior and Central Michigan Life advertising representative. “It’s also in honor of music legend Michael Jackson. It’s a great way to honor what he’s done.”

Students can register for the event at the practices at 8 p.m. today, Nov. 9 at Finch Fieldhouse or at the door for the actual event Nov. 13. Mills said she is hoping for at least 500 students to participate.

Mills thinks the event will be very distinct.

“There is not (a record) for the largest college Thriller dance, and that’s why we thought we’d have a good shot, just because we would probably be one of the first,” she said. “We went with the college record so that it would be more unique and stand out a little more.”

Mills said students from all over the state can participate as long as they have college identification.

“It’s not just for Central students,” she said. “I encourage all students to attend because it would be a lot of fun and a great way to honor one of our top icons.”

Assistant Director of Student Publications Kathy Simon said there are many ways for students to get involved.

“They don’t have to go to the practice sessions,” Simon said. “They can get involved by going to our Web site and finding the instructions for the dance. They can create their own practice sessions within their groups or organizations or residence halls to practice for the dance. Or they can just show up the night of the event and dance.”

The event will feature prizes for the best Michael Jackson impersonator, largest registered student organization participation, largest sorority/fraternity participation and largest residence hall participation.

“Everyone, please die,” said Livonia junior Ryan O’Neill. “We’re about to thrill the world.”

At 8:30 p.m., the city was a part of Thrill the World, an annual worldwide simultaneous “Thriller” dance, along with nations such as Australia, Saudi Arabia and Wales, according to thrilltheworld.com.

“We are a small part of something huge,” said O’Neill, event manager of Mount Pleasant’s Thrill the World dance.

Out of the 10 nations and thousands of participants, 34 from Mount Pleasant were a part of something bigger than they had expected.

Wyandotte sophomore Nicole Schmidt was proud that a small city such as Mount Pleasant was involved in a huge event.

“I think it’s really cool because it’s the year that Michael Jackson died and it’s a way to honor him,” she said.

Schmidt’s sister, Mallorie Schmidt, drove from Wyandotte to Mount Pleasant to join the rest of the participants.

“She’s a huge Michael Jackson fan,” Nicole Schmidt said.

Zombie land

As the group took its position on the ground of Lot 18, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” began to play, and the zombies “rose from the dead.”

Harrison senior Nathan Heath attended the event to see his friends’ dedication pay off.

“They’ve put in countless hours in this, and the dedication is just amazing,” Heath said. “This is the best I’ve seen them so far.”

A few of the participating zombies lived on Heath’s floor in Woldt Hall.

“I’ve watched them practice in their room and, basically, they’ve got it down,” he said.

O’Neill taught himself the entire dance within an hour over the summer. He searched “Thriller” online, found thrilltheworld.com and became an event manager. He began to set up the event in Mount Pleasant, holding rehearsals since September.

According to the Web site, last year, Thrill the World set a world record with the Record Holders Republic with 4,179 people from 10 nations simultaneously performing the “Thriller” dance.

O’Neill was happy, relieved, ecstatic and thrilled the event turned out well.

“It was a lot of hard work, and we had tons of fun out there,” he said.

On Tuesday night, about 40 students filled the tennis courts between Calkins and Trout halls, learning the famous ’80s dance tune.

“The most important thing to remember is that you guys are zombies,” Livonia junior Ryan O’Neill, who organized the event, told the dancers. “You must look like zombies.”

They hope to shock the world at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 24 by breaking the world record for the largest simultaneous thriller dance in history.

The Mount Pleasant location where participants will be dancing is not yet decided, O’Neill said.

CMU students are not the only ones involved with “Thrill the World.” The event is worldwide that has been ongoing since 2007.

The idea came after 62 “zombies” in Canada set the Guinness World Record for the largest version of the dance.

Since then, thousands of people from all different countries have participated in the event.

“We are a small part of something huge,” O’Neill said.

He said anyone can learn the Thriller dance in about two hours, although memorizing it is a different story.

He just learned the dance earlier this summer.

O’Neill and his dancers will meet at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday nights at the tennis courts between Calkins and Trout halls until Oct. 24 to practice the dance.

Saginaw senior Rachel Singer practices the Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance Tuesday night. (Neil Blake/Staff Photographer)

Many student dancers were laughing in excitement when O’Neill first demonstrated the dance for them.

“There’s a body roll in the dance that looks fun,” said Grand Rapids sophomore Janet Price, who danced along. “I wanted to learn this ever since I saw the video. It’s the highlight of my week.”

Croswell sophomore Sarah Sly said she has been trying to learn the dance for a long time and this is the perfect opportunity to learn it.

“Right now, I don’t know anything, this might take a while,” she said.

Durand sophomore Brett Warner and a few of his friends were among several students who watched the dancers from the side of the tennis courts.

He said the Thriller dance is the best dance a person can learn.

“The director seems like he has his stuff together,” Warner said. “I’m confident they’ll do good.”

The Student Government Association will be holding a House meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 31 in Anspach Hall Room 161. Meetings will continue every Monday. The Senate meeting will be held 7 p.m. Mondays, as well, in Anspach Hall Room 153.

“Thrill The World” workshop

Starting Tuesday, Thrill The World Mount Pleasant will host a “Thriller” workshop from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. every Tuesday, through Oct. 20, at the tennis courts between Trout and Calkins halls. During the workshop, attendees will be walked through the “Thriller” dance step-by-step and are advised to wear comfortable clothes. To learn the dance individually, e-mail ttw09mtp@gmail.com for tutorials.

Clarke art exhibit

From Sept. 15 through Jan. 31, an exhibit on ”Rides and Spangles: Michigan Circuses and Carnivals” will be on display in Central Michigan University’s Clarke Historical Library. This exhibit will feature the history of circuses and carnivals throughout Michigan. Bill Thomas, Curt Pollie, Jim Elliott and Joe Skerbeck worked in the carnival industry and will speak at a reception 7 p.m. Sept. 15 in the Charles V. Park Library Auditorium. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, call Marian Matyn at 774-3990.

Childrens’ artwork

“Back to School Art Exhibit” is an exhibition that features artwork created by children ages 2 to 5 years old. These children attended CMU’s Child Development and Learning Lab. The artwork will be on display through Sept. 14 in the Multicultural Education Center on the lower level of CMU’s Bovee University Center. This event is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, call the Multicultural Education Center at 989-774-7318.

Career Services picnic

Central Michigan University’s Career Services will host the Career Services Kick-Off Picnic at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday on the front lawn of the Bovee University Center. Career Services staff will be available for students to discuss plans for the 2009-10 academic year. Free hot dogs and T-shirts also will be available. For further information, call Career Services at 774-6612.

“I Hate Hamlet!” in theatre

The Friends of the Broadway and the Broadway Players present “I Hate Hamlet!” directed by Mike Meakin and produced by Jan Howard. Those interested can purchase tickets for $8 at Ace Of Diamonds, 128 E. Broadway St.; Bennigan’s, 2424 S. Mission St.; Ric’s, 705 S. Mission St.; The Hotel Doherty, 604 N. McEwan St.; in Clare, and will also be available at the door. The production premieres at 7 p.m. Sept. 11, 12, 18 and 19 and at 2 p.m. Sept. 13.