Stephen Bishop (Director/Fight Coordinator/Actor) has spent more than twenty years on the professional stage as a prominent leading man on and off Broadway, in National tours, and on the concert stage. He most recently starred as The Grinch for two sold out seasons and more than one hundred performances in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas for the National Touring Company’s sit-down production in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry. Last seen on Broadway as Disney’s Beast in Beauty and the Beast at the famed Palace Theatre, he made his Broadway debut in Les Miserables at the Imperial Theatre (where select audiences saw him perform Master of the House, Thenardier). Mr. Bishop has also starred on Broadway as Gaston, later transferring his performance to the Los Angeles Company for Disney Theatricals and the Shubert Theatre. As a member of the National Company of Les Miserables, Mr. Bishop starred as Javert for more than five years performing in every major city in the U.S. and Canada from ‘98-’02-- including Toronto, performing opposite original Valjean, Colm Wilkinson. Other NATL/B&T/Regional tours include Peter Pan (Hook/Darling), Les Miserables (Javert), Camelot (Lancelot), Cabaret (Ernst), and Secret Garden (Dr. Craven). He has performed principally in countless regional productions across the U.S. from World premieres to the Classics, has appeared as guest baritone soloist with numerous state symphonies (Broadway repertoire), and has principally voiced national animated ad campaigns for Ogilvy Mather and Don Pitts Voices. In addition to performing on the stage, for the last decade plus, Mr. Bishop has enjoyed success as special production and casting consultant, both stage and fight director for more than thirty productions, and throughout his diverse performance career has taught and adjudicated numerous master classes at both the high school and collegiate level throughout the United States and Canada. Mr. Bishop has directed productions for 24 Hours of Madness (writer Duane Poole) and 24 Hours Revisited (writer James Mellon) at NoHo Arts Center, and served as mentor for 48 Hours of Madness for Chaminade College Prep School as well as assistant director credits and special consultant to the director. As fight director, he has directed/created fights for productions of Arsenic and Old Lace, Oklahoma, As You Like It, Sweeney Todd, The Fantasticks, Twelfth Night, Beauty and The Beast, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, and Peter Pan. Stephen holds a Bachelor’s degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Performance Studies from Saint Mary's College of California, a Master's degree (Merit Honours)) in Shakespeare and Theatre from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham, and holds a post -graduate professional certification in Applied Shakespeare from the University of Colorado, Boulder and the renowned Colorado Shakespeare Festival. He continually sharpens his text, performance, and language skills with mentor Dr. Rob Clare (recently participating in his director’s lab workshops of King Lear with Jeff Perry and Macbeth, and The Winter’s Tale) as well as with The Antaeus Academy (Dakin Matthews, Dr. Elizabeth Swain, Armin Shimerman), and Shakespeare & Company (Tina Packer, Los Angeles Intensive). Mr. Bishop is also an alum of the prestigious Lincoln Center Directors Lab West 2015 in Los Angeles. For the entirety of his adult life, Mr. Bishop has logged countless hours studying the art of classical voice (with emphasis on classical musical theatre) independently with some of the most sought after voice teachers and coaches within the Broadway community, and continues to hone his fight skills on an ongoing basis with the Antaeus Academy (Ned Mochel), The Academy of Theatrical Combat's professional training program and through various workshops and SPT testing sanctioned and presented by the Society of American Fight Directors (member SAFD '15). Associate member SDC.

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STEPHEN BISHOP (Fight Director) is a staunch supporter and member of the Society of American Fight Directors and is dedicated to creating safe and engaging storytelling through the art of combat! For the past 12 years he has provided fight direction and action consultation on at least a dozen productions that include Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma, Blood Brothers, As You Like It, The Fantasticks, Sweeney Todd, Fiddler, Twelfth Night, Beauty and the Beast, and most recently Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, and Peter Pan. As an Actor Combatant, he has been fighting for more than 30 years in countless regional productions across the US, in works that range from World Premieres to the Classics, on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast and Les Miserables, and in Los Angeles and National companies of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Grinch), Peter Pan (Hook), Beauty (Gaston), Les Miserables (Javert), Camelot (Lancelot, for which he choreographed his own fights), and Cabaret (Ernst). Mr. Bishop is an alum of the esteemed Directors Lab West, holds a BA in Performance Studies from Saint Mary's College of California (Magna Cum Laude), a Master’s in Shakespeare and Theatre from the Royal Shakespeare Company's Shakespeare Institute and the University of Birmingham, UK (Merit Honours), and holds a post-grad professional certification in Applied Shakespeare from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the renowned Colorado Shakespeare Festival. He continues to hone his fight skills with the Antaeus Academy (Ned Mochel), SwordPlay LA, the Academy of Theatrical Stage Combat, as well as any and all sanctioned SAFD workshops and intensives! Member SAFD, and Associate Member SDC.