A few hours before a performance, Kyle Riabko, the lead actor in the touring production of "Spring Awakening," is milling about backstage at the Ahmanson Theatre. He saunters into his dressing room and checks his Blackberry, which rests upon a sketch of his character's costume.
He's affixed a dozen faux mustaches onto his mirror, and a cluster of plastic noses hang from a door handle, even though neither are part of his get-up in the play. Below the row of bright bulbs lighting his vanity, his nameplate is tacked prominently on the wall.
Later that evening, Riabko, 21, would take the stage to play Melchior in "Spring Awakening," the Tony Award-winning musical that depicts the challenges for a group of teenagers discovering their sexuality in late 19th century authoritarian Germany.
Since May, Riabko has taken on the role of a precocious 15-year-old who questions the strict intellectual and moral worlds he's confined to. When the nightly performance ends, Riabko is usually greeted by a slate of smitten tweens who gather eagerly around the stage door, hoping he'll sign their Playbills. On his Facebook page, dozens of girls have posted pictures of themselves posing alongside him and his pinup features -- perfectly coiffed blond hair, blue eyes and a defined jaw line. "Kyle Riabko touched my shoulder!" reads one caption.
But it was only a year ago that Riabko was cramped in a van touring with Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers, an alt-country band of guys in their late 20s. He'd joined the group for a touring stint as a guitarist while he was in high school.
"We were amazed at how young but how mature he was at the time," says drummer Brian Factor. "Like, 'Man, he's only 16 and he can hang out with us and we don't feel like we're baby-sitting.' He was instantly one of us."
Together, Riabko and the Sixers would wake up at 7 in the morning, cram into a van and take catnaps while driving for eight hours until they reached the next city. They'd load their gear into the venue, do a sound check, eat, play a show until midnight, then crash at a hotel.
"It was a cool but hard lifestyle. I guess I always wanna seem like I'm playing with the big boys," he says with a laugh. "There was a little bit of them sneaking whiskey into my drinks and stuff."
Riabko picked things up quickly from a young age. He got his first guitar, a Stratocaster knockoff, when he was 10. He started a band with buddies and called it 10, 11, 12 for the members' respective ages. After school, he'd hole up in his bedroom, writing his own music for hours until he fell asleep, curled against his guitar.
