 He studied music and drama at the University of Vienna in Austria, and then received an MFA in Directing from Yale School of Drama.In his last year at the Yale School of Drama, he was admitted as a doctoral candidate in comparative literature, which led to his first position as an instructor of English and theatre at Amherst College.Stewart's first political job was as a ten-year-old poll-watcher in Chicago's 5th Ward which staunchly but futilely opposed the political machine of Richard J. Daley.