Fritz Holt (October 9, 1940 – July 14, 1987) was an American

theatre producer Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicat ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. Born George William Holt III in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, Holt was a graduate of the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. He began his career as an assistant

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including overseeing of the rehearsal proce ...

at the Mineola Playhouse in

Mineola, New York Mineola is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and the county seat of Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 20,800 at the time of the 2020 United Stat ...

, where he worked until

Harold Prince Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th-century theat ...

hired him to assistant stage manage the national tour of ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

.'' Holt and Prince later would collaborate on ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

'' and ''

Follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot centers on a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Follies ...

''.''New York Times'' obituary, July 15, 1987
/ref> Holt's first

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

credit as a stage manager was the 1969 production of the

Arthur Kopit Arthur Lee Kopit (; May 10, 1937 – April 2, 2021) was an American playwright. He was a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for ''Indians (play), Indians'' and ''Wings (play), Wings''. He was also nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Play for ...

play '' Indians''. His first producing credit was the short-lived 1974 revival of ''

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

'' starring

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades wer ...

. He helped coordinate ''

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

's Clams on the Half Shell Revue'', but aside from this and a revival of ''

The Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while the ...

'' (which won him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival), he was plagued by a series of flops, including '' Summer Brave'', ''

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

'', a revival of ''

The Goodbye People ''The Goodbye People'' is a play by Herb Gardner. The play had a brief run on Broadway in 1968 and was made into a film which was released in 1986. Plot The dramedy focuses on elderly Max Silverman, who is determined to reopen the Coney Isl ...

'',

Phyllis Newman Phyllis Newman (March 19, 1933 – September 15, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She won the 1962 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Martha Vail in the musical '' Subways Are for Sleeping'' on Broadway ...

's one-woman show ''The Madwoman of Central Park West'', and the

Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser ( "lesser"; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls (musical), Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business ...

-inspired

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

''Perfectly Frank'' (which he directed), until scoring a major hit with '' La Cage aux Folles'' in 1983. The production won him the

Tony Award for Best Musical The Tony Award for Best Musical is given annually to the best new Broadway musical, as determined by Tony Award voters. The award is one of the ceremony's longest-standing awards, having been presented each year since 1949. The award goes to the ...

Activism

In 1983, Holt was a main contributor alongside Reverend Mead Miner Bailey to the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based AIDS Resource Center for helping youth suffering from

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. The charity renamed Bailey House opened a major residence on Christopher Street to house endangered GLBT youth and families. The residence was renamed Bailey-Holt House in recognition of the two benefactors Reverend Bailey and producer Fritz Holt. In addition to his Broadway projects, Holt staged the

benefit ''Best of the Best'' at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1985. Holt produced an

Actors' Fund The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that supports performers and behind-the-scenes workers in performing arts and entertainment, helping more than 17,000 people directly each year. Se ...

benefit commemorating the 100th birthday of

George Abbott George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. He received numerous honors including six Tony Awards, the ...

a month prior to his death from complications from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ...

at the age of 46.

References

External links

Fritz Holt at the Internet Broadway Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Fritz American theatre managers and producers American theatre directors Tony Award winners Drama Desk Award winners Businesspeople from San Francisco University of Oregon alumni 1941 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople