Conversations with Jenn Bishop

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenn Bishop.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m Jenn Bishop, founder and managing director of Savannah Repertory Theatre. About my journey personally, I am from Los Angeles, CA. I started my journey into the world of theatre in 3rd grade where I was cast as the title role in The Practical Princess. Soon after I received a flyer for a production of Peter Pan the musical being done by a local children’s theatre and thus began the of making theatre a career. My family followed me into being apart of that children’s theatre for over 2 decades. The mentorship pushed me to audition for LA County High School for the Arts. I then earned my Bachelors Degree in Musical Theatre from The University of Arizona and immediately then flew to London UK a did a year there at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts with a Graduate Degree in Theatre Arts. I spent the rest of my twenties pursuing theatre professionally as an actor, singer, and dancer in Southern California working for many of the regional theatre companies in the area. In 2008 I moved to NYC to continue that journey. In 2012 I paused pounding the pavement and went back to LA for a short time to take a 6 month course at Cinema Makeup School. I then focused my attention on building a career as a professional makeup and hair artist for film, television, photography, and special events. A couple years later I met Ken Hailey and Nick Corley who together, along with the rest of my family, came to Savannah and founded Savannah Repertory Theatre. With their help along with more great artists along the way we slowly built Savannah Rep into the flagship regional theatre company in Savannah, GA. I am the only remaining founder with the company. I’ve since brought Natasha Drena on as our Producing Artistic Director and with her help we are now a fully woman lead 501c3 not for profit organization going into it’s 9th Mainstage Season and producing our second annual Savannah Musical Theatre Festival. I’ve truly found a calling here in Savannah and am so grateful to continue to create theatre in this amazing community.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
If there were struggles then the achievements wouldn’t be worth it and we never learn how to grow. I’ve definitely aligned myself with the wrong people from time to time. The pandemic was of course a big hurdle but also a great time to reflect and work on the health and logistics of the company without the pressures of producing shows. Discovering and understanding how to serve the community of Savannah in comparison to other bigger city markets is still something we are making sure is in the forefront of our mission and definitely has proven to have a learning curve. Building a company from the bottom up which I have never done before was probably the biggest struggle but I always had my family there to support me in those early months along with hiring warm and passionate arts who also understand the growing pains of starting a non profit theatre company. Do I look back and wish I had made different decisions, of course, but hindsight is 20/20. All we can do is learn from those struggles and make better decisions going forward.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I was lucky enough to have chosen a college program that had a partnership with the local regional theatre company which had a work study for credits where we were cast as understudies or small featured/ensemble roles in productions. I’m most proud of how Savannah Rep has manifested that same kind of bridge for young artists in Savannah going to all the different arts programs this city has to offer and we hire them to perform, design, or work backstage getting practical experience within a professional setting where they can get paid in the career they are pursuing but still learn along side other long standing career artists so when they eventually leave Savannah they have a better footing and more confidence to continue that career at the national level.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Honestly I’ve led a fairly privileged life with great friends and family. I would say the company has had good and bad luck financially with some poor decisions made by previous executive team members but also grants and other individual donors coming in the nick of time to help. These last couple of years we’ve grown stronger and continue that good luck streak of continuing to be able to pay the bills and keep the company afloat coming out of the bad with only the good now taking us into the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Savannahrep.org
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Savannah.rep
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Savannahrep