JIM FRITZLER is a Director, Writer, Musician, and Designer working in Theatre and Film.
He is currently Professor of Theatre Arts at Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska. He has previously taught directing, writing for theatre, acting, theatre history and performance studies/women's studies at Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX; and theatre history, acting and musical theatre at St. Edward's University in Austin, TX.
He received his BA in Drama/Speech, English
Linguistics, Education from Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska and
his MFA in Directing from the University of Texas at Austin under Dr.
Francis Hodge.
His professional theatre work across the U. S. includes
directing the premiere of his play BURNIN' HOPE at the John Henry Faulk
Theatre in Austin, TX; directing/musical directing the premiere of the
a capella musical THE COW PATTYS at the Barter Theatre in Virginia; and
directing and co-designing the premiere of John Hawkes' one-man show,
NIMROD SOUL at Theatre/Theatre and Theatre at the Improv in Los
Angeles. His film work includes directing the adaptation of NIMROD
SOUL, writing and directing a film short, MORNICE & MILAS; and
serving as Production Designer for the independent films TALES FROM THE
BORDERLAND, DEEP IN THE HEART(OF TEXAS) and RIFF RAFF.
Jim was a Founding Member and Artistic Director of Open
Channels in New York which currently produces the Obie award-winning
theatre, "Dixon Place" run by Ellie Covan and devoted to the
development of new theatre works. He also co-founded and served as
Artistic Director for ten years for Big State Productions in Austin,
Texas which specialized in the premiere of new works by Southwestern
authors, and re-stagings of American Classics. For Big State he
directed, produced, and designed over 40 productions and also conceived
and co-wrote IN THE WEST, an original play that was performed in Austin
for five years, across Texas for two years, was invited to be performed
at The Kennedy Center, and was the basis for the independent feature
film DEEP IN THE HEART (OF TEXAS).
As a professional musician he has served as: Head Accompanist for The Hartford Ballet in Hartford, Connecticut; Head Accompanist for The University of Texas; Accompanist for the Alvin Ailey Dance School in New York; and as an accompanist and composer for many individual choreographers. He has been Musical Director/Accompanist for numerous theatre productions across the U. S., composed and recorded scores for many plays and films, and played in bands including: Swine King, Stickfigures, Jaws of Life, and Two Nice Girls.