Sean Murray founded Cygnet Theatre Company along with his husband, Bill Schmidt. He holds a B.F.A. from the professional actors training program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. As Cygnet’s Artistic Director, his directing credits include the San Diego premieres of Fully Committed, Bed and Sofa (SD Critics Award, Best Musical Revival), Las Meninas, Escanaba in da Moonlight, The Invention of Love, Parade, The History Boys, The Receptionist, Bug, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, St. Nicholas, The Book of Liz and the world premiere of The Tragedy of the Commons. Other productions with Cygnet are Man of La Mancha, Dirty Blonde, Cabaret (SD Critics Award, Best Musical, Direction), Little Shop of Horrors, Our Town, The Norman Conquests, Private Lives, Sweeney Todd (SD Critics Award, Best Musical), It’s A Wonderful Life, Noises Off, A Little Night Music (SD Critics Award, Best Director), Pageant, The Matchmaker, Desire Under the Elms, Santaland Diaries, Arcadia, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Little Foxes and My Fair Lady. His original adaptation of A Christmas Carol: The Radio Play premiered in 2012.
He served as the Artistic Director of North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach, California from 1998 to 2003. During his tenure there he produced many San Diego and Southern California premieres including Arcadia, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Defying Gravity, The Thousandth Night, An American Daughter, and Pageant. The paired productions of The Importance of Being Earnest and Travesties were performed in a rotating repertory and received recognition by the Patte Awards and the San Diego Critics Circle. His production of Cabaret for NCRT was named Best Musical by the San Diego Critics Circle.
Other directing credits include the San Diego Repertory Theatre: A Christmas Carol (’98, ’09, ’00); University of San Diego: The Dining Room, Heartbreak House for the Old Globe MFA Program; Monomoy Theatre, Cape Cod, Summer and Smoke. Diversionary Theatre: Never the Sinner, Love! Valour! Compassion! which were both recognized as best productions by the KPBS Patté Awards, and the independently produced Tempest on the Beach at the Hotel Del Coronado.
His many acting credits include My Fair Lady, Man of La Mancha, Private Lives, Sweeney Todd, The Rocky Horror Show, The Elephant Man, Ah, Wilderness!, The Tooth of Crime, Annie, South Pacific, The Tempest (Old Globe Theatre), Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, Travesties, among others. He received a KPBS Patté Award and a Critics Circle Award for his performance as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha.
In 2005, the San Diego Critics Circle honored him with as Producer of the Year. Sean was named one of the 50 People to Watch by San Diego magazine in 2001. He has served on panels for the San Diego Actors Alliance, San Diego State University MFA design school and the Communication Forum Institute on Auditioning and taught at the University of San Diego and San Diego State University.