Savannah Rep Announces New Executive Artistic Team

Savannah Repertory Theatre is pleased to announce their new Executive Artistic Team led by Executive Artistic Director, Ryan McCurdy and Managing Director, Jennifer Bishop.

Ryan McCurdy is a bicoastal Actor-Musician and Producer who is very excited to return to Savannah as Rep's new Executive Artistic Director. He has worked as a director, teacher, and designer at regional theaters across the United States. New York audiences have seen him in a series of Broadway Cares appearances between 2012 and 2015, as an original cast member in Off-Broadway's "Pip's Island", and as a recipient of the 2018 Best Lead Actor Innovative Theater Award for his work in "Greencard Wedding". Ryan will be freelancing in the upcoming season with Marvel Entertainment and alongside his co-producers in bicoastal production company Bespoke Plays.

Jennifer Bishop started her career at the age of 9 in Los Angeles, CA and has traveled the world performing on stages from Russia to Australia to the seas of the Mediterranean. She has been a proud AEA actor/singer and stage manager for the past 10 years. Credits: Sally in "Me and My Girl", Narrator in "Joseph...Dreamcoat", Anybodys in "West Side Story", Chava in "Fiddler on the Roof", Esther in "Meet Me in St. Louis", Rhetta Cupp in "Pump Boys & Dinettes" and Ruby in "Dames at Sea".

Nick Corley is a Director, Actor and Writer and happily continues as Savannah Rep's Associate Artistic Director. His work has been seen all over the world including the award-winning Woody Sez - the life and music of Woody Guthrie which he also co-wrote. He recently served as the associate director of the Broadway revivals of "Burn This" and "Plaza Suite". His acting credits include: Broadway "You Can't Take It With You", "On The 20th Century", "Drood, Mary Poppins", "A Christmas Carol" and "She Loves Me". Film/Television credits include "Kissing Jessica Stein", "Law And Order", "Mysteries of Laura", "High Maintenance" and "Submissions Only" opposite Audra McDonald.

Sandra Karas is an actor, director, and union leader whose work includes performances and productions in New York, across the US, and in Europe. Theatrical credits include Dolly in "Hello, Dolly!", Duchess of York in "Richard III", Lady Bracknell "The Importance of Being Earnest", Fraulein Schneider in "Cabaret", and many others from Neil Simon to Moliere. In film, she has worked with Robert DeNiro and Jane Fonda. Television roles include "Blue Bloods" (CBS), "Hunters" (Amazon Prime), "Difficult People" (Hulu) and "Friends from College" (Netflix). Other work includes radio, voiceovers, commercials, and cabaret. She was a founding member of New York's Merely Players.

In 2016, founding members, Ken Hailey, Nick Corley, Jennifer Bishop, and Erik Bishop got together and sought out a culturally strong southern city that could support a professional Equity theatre company. They came to Savannah and were taken with the city, its charm, gentility and thriving artistic community. All the elements fell into place when the team found their current space -a converted and adaptable warehouse - and began to put down roots. Executive Artistic Director, Ryan McCurdy said, "Theater is a unifying experience at its very core - Savannah is going to need that more than ever in the coming years. We need our theatrical spaces to help us decompress, evaluate, take stock. Savannah stands on the shoulders of literary, musical, and artistic giants, and theater is the only place they come together seamlessly. I think Savannah Rep's company and family of actors are uniquely positioned to offer these experiences at a remarkable level for an accessible price.

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