Neil Patrick Stewart is a proud member of the acting faculty at Texas State, as well as an actor, writer, and decorated director. He has been a member of the core creative team behind the musical version of VOLLEYGIRLSsince its inception; he directed a workshop production in 2015 at the University of Florida, and the world premiere production at the Signature Theatre was part of the 2013 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), where it was nominated for best direction and best choreography, and won the awards for best ensemble, most promising new musical, and the coveted top honor: Best of Fest. Neil directed the premiere of Christian Durso’s SHINERfor the IAMA Theatre Group in both Los Angeles and New York, and his L.A. production of THE ELEPHANT MAN for the non-profit Mechanicals Theatre Group earned four prestigious Ovation Award nominations, including best direction of a play, and best production. At Texas State, his directing credits include the 2014, 2015, and 2016 BFA Acting Showcases, FROM A TO DOUBLE D, and THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE. Neil is the former creative director of New York’s Back House Productions, which he co-founded. With Back House, he helped over forty projects make the leap from the laptop to the stage, including Broadway’s smash hit IN THE HEIGHTS, which he co-directed for its first couple of years of laboratory development. Neil is the associate artistic director (as well as a founder and member of the acting faculty) of The Performing Arts Project, a cutting-edge musical theatre training intensive for outstanding high-school and college-aged students, which takes place every summer at Wake Forest University, and he was a member of the acting faculty of the Broadway Theatre Project for over a decade. His acting credits include six tours of France, two with JULIUS CAESAR, and four with Jean Genet’s SPLENDID'S, JULIUS CAESAR in Bogota, Colombia, SPLENDID'S in Seoul, South Korea, SPLENDID'S in Madrid, Spain, both THE ONION CELLAR and JULIUS CAESAR at the American Repertory Theatre, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at New York City’s South Street Seaport, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at the Texas State University Performing Arts Center, the world premiere of HELLO HERMAN at the Grove Street Playhouse in New York, E TO JAMAICA CENTER at the Nuyorican Poets’ Cafe, and a lead in the Russian feature film "Chuzhie." Neil holds a B.A. in theater from Wesleyan University, and a M.F.A. in acting from the world-renowned American R