Fran Kirmser

Fran Kirmser has worked with artists and arts organizations for 20 years and has facilitated the work of hundreds of artists to stage. She began her professional career at the age of 14 as a dancer. After a career ending injury she started working on the other side of the stage. In 1997 she founded Fran Kirmser LLC, one of the first consulting companies dedicated to the emerging artist. In 2002 she launched The Biography Project, a series of biographical plays that tell the stories of artists in an effort to recognize their voices, better archive their creations and explore their influence on culture. The first was Isadora …No Apologies about American Dance Icon and Feminist Isadora Duncan.On Broadway Kirmser co-produced the award-winning Radio Golf, the last play and final chapter in an epic ten-play cycle by August Wilson, one of our nation’s greatest playwrights. Kirmser was a producer on the 2009 Tony Award-Winner for Best Musical Revival, Hair. In 2008, off the heels of the financial crisis, Kirmser conceived a sports series for stage to explore leadership, competition, teamwork, drive and resilience. Developing first Lombardi, a new play based on the life of the Iconic Leader and renowned Football Coach Vince Lombardi, starring Dan Lauria and Judith Light. Produced by Kirmser/Ponturo Group and in association with the NFL, Lombardi opened in 2010 and was the longest running play of the 2010-2011 Season where it brought an estimated 146,000 new patrons to the theater for the first time.Additional Broadway credits include Magic/Bird, Bronx Bombers, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which earned the 2013 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. She is represented in Annie and Lucky Guy. Fran serves as Executive Producer of the feature film Lombardi, based on the Broadway play and produced by Legendary Pictures, and the feature film Louis Vs. Schmeling.An Arts Advocate, she has served on funding panels in the fine and performing arts such as New York Foundation for the Arts and has taught master classes at Columbia University, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and Universities across the country as well as Commercial Theater Institute, The Field and HB Studio. She has worked in development for companies such as Martha Graham Dance Company, Doug Varone and Dancers, Shen Wei Dance Arts and others. Fran is currently a member of the Broadway League and a Tony Voter. She has co-authored the book A Life In Dance: a practical guide www.ALifeInDance.com for a dancer’s career now available on Amazon. www.FranKirmser.com