Donald Frantz
DON FRANTZ is an eight year veteran of the Walt Disney Company where he was instrumental in creating Walt Disney Theatrical Productions and served as the Associate Producer of Broadway's Beauty and the Beast. Following the Broadway premiere and four North American companies of Beauty, Don then served as Associate Producer of Broadway's biggest hit, The Lion King. With this pattern of success, Don was invited to join Livent, Inc. in Toronto to provide a more responsible management team for the Ragtime companies. Prior to these assignments he produced and directed productions at Walt Disney World, including the nighttime spectacle SpectroMagic, and managed the conceptual development of Andrew Lloyd Webber's EQ and Noah's Ark. Prior to Disney, Don had a wide range of entertainment venues and assignments including directing or producing roles for: theme parks such as Universal Studios and Busch Gardens; Special Events including Superbowl Half-time Presentations and the 1984 World's Fair's 5,000 seat amphitheater; Theatrical Projects on the west coast including Los Angeles' Ensemble Studio Theater/LA and George Schaefer's Musical Theater/LA produced in association with U.C.L.A at the Doolittle Theater, and independent productions at the Roxy and Canon Theaters. He received an MFA in Theater Management from UCLA where he was later accepted onto the faculty of the Department of Theater, Film and Television. For Hyperion Press he authored the book A Celebration of the Broadway Musical, Beauty and the Beast. In 1980 Don re-discovered and constructed models of the lost secret of China's 'South Pointing Chariot.' The model, accepted by the Museum of the Province of Xian, effectively re-wrote a small chapter in the history of Chinese mechanical engineering. In 1993, 1995 and 1996 Don broke the Guinness Record for the World's Largest Maze and developed a new, outdoor, family game called The Amazing Maize Maze. The result was the founding of the American Maze Company which has built 30 such projects in 8 different states, entertained over one million players, and instigated a maze fad which has found root around the world. Don regularly gives seminars on teamwork to corporate clients based on his observations at the maze. Most recently, Don was the General Manager of the Broadway production of A Class Act at the Ambassador Theatre and the off-Broadway production of Pirates of Penzance at the Ship Peking. Additionally a musical production of Summer of '42 is in pre-production for out-of-town tryouts and an Off-Broadway opening in Fall of 2001. Under the banner of Town Square Productions, Don is developing entertainment concepts for Busch Entertainment Corporation theme parks in Florida, Virginia and California. With A&E's personality Elliott Forrest, Don has also produced the unique new entertainment experience, Headphone Theater, which invites the players to role-play the story of Huck Finn on a 45 minute walk through the woods. In the summer of 2001 Don and Elliott will develop a new use of the Headphone Theatre concept as a tour of Broadway's Theatre district. Don is a member of the American League of Theatres and Producers, the Academy of Magical Arts, and the boards of Arts Horizons and the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center. Bio as of August, 2009. American Theatre Wing programs, interviews and/or credits include: Working in the Theatre (video) Production: Beauty and the Beast - April, 1994 - Watch now. Internet Broadway Database Listing (IBDB.com)