KYLE VAN FRANK
Director. Storyteller. Leader.
"The theater shall be a kind of sacred thing, where a festive and artistic mood shall always reign."
-Maurice Schwartz​
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I am drawn to theatre that makes audiences feel, think, remember, and restore. Laughter, tears, shock, and awe. Theatre which engages the senses. Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. Theatre which tells stories that resonated with us yesterday, resonate today, and will resonate tomorrow.
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Whether developing a sketch comedy show, a new musical, a classical play, or a performance in an award show, my process is the same: guide actors deeper into the text to understand the why, how, what, when, and where of the piece. I enjoy working with playwrights and the great gift of accessing the mind of the author first-hand alongside actors and designers.
A lifelong learner, I am driven by directing's demands to study, discover, and create a world for fellow artists to travel with me and dream.​
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Kyle is excited to have you here where you can join him as he endeavors to lead a joyful storytelling process that reminds us all why we fell in love with theatre.
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ARTISTIC STATEMENT
I am a multi-faceted theatre-maker who is passionate about telling great stories.
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From musical theatre to sketch comedy to theatre for young audiences to award shows to new and developing works, I am drawn to a variety of work that engages the mind and charms the imagination.
My interdisciplinary background has shaped a working style that prioritizes collaboration as an essential pathway to artistic creation. With extensive teaching experience and background leading seven-figure fundraising results for nonprofits, I bring a sense of professionalism and dedication to every project.
"Collaborating with Kyle in a production setting is just what any show needs: his focus, his keen sense of detailed awareness, his curious nature as well as his wisdom. "
Alison Hetzel, Professor of Acting - The University of Alabama
Featured Projects
Theatre for Young Audiences
"CHOMP"
Director
Florida Studio Theatre
While serving as a Directing Fellow at Florida Studio Theatre, I had the opportunity to work with the theater's award-winning WRITE A PLAY program. This program teaches K-12 students to write plays through performing plays written by students.
The piece CHOMP, written by a Florida elementary school student featured two actors manipulating three puppets with an improvised ending inspired by ideas from the live audience.
"The Tempest"
Assistant Director
Colorado Shakespeare Festival
Working with second through fifth graders, we developed an adapted production of The Tempest. Though shortened for time and age-appropriate content, CSF trains young actors to perform Shakespeare in the original prose and poetry. Focusing on movement and ensemble work, I served as an Assistant Director for this production.
"7 UP"
Director
Florida Studio Theatre
As a part of Florida Studio Theatre's award-winning WRITE A PLAY program, I directed the annual 7UP production, featuring plays written by 7th-12th grade students in Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Israel, and Scotland. The winning 9 plays and 1 musical were performed and recorded for students across participating schools.
New Works & Readings
"America in One Room" by Jason Odell Williams
Director
Florida Studio Theatre
"When eight strangers receive an invitation to the America in One Room Convention, promising
debate on a wide range of topics, they are hesitant to participate. However, as each personality
files into the aptly-titled “Liberty Room,” their insecurities, strengths, weaknesses, and hopes for
the future are put on full display. Inspired by the 2019 convention of the same name, America in
One Room dissects the recent headlines and our nation’s past to answer the question: what does it
mean to be an American?"
-Florida Studio Theatre
"Shrek the Musical" by David Lindsay-Abaire
Director
The University of Alabama
Serving as a Senior Project, I directed, produced, music directed, and performed alongside my peers at The University of Alabama in a staged reading of Shrek the Musical. Leveraging my past four years of studies in performance, direction, and arts management, I wove together an ensemble of fellow classmates and artists to produce a staged reading of a piece we loved.
Proceeds from the reading benefitted the UA Theatre & Dance scholarship fund.
"Pandora's Suitcase" by Sarah Bierstock
Director
Florida Studio Theatre
"Pandora is Seriously Curious about all things Global Warming. When the kids at school call her Teacher's Pet one too many times, she decides to try out life at dad's house, and enrolls in the gifted and talented school, Smarty Pants Elementary. She just has this one, Exceptionally Important Scientific Experiment she must complete before leaving. It involves a large suitcase she lugs around with her. What could be inside there?? And why is she dragging it to the river?"
-Sarah Bierstock
Cabarets & Award Shows
"On the Road Again" by Sarah Durham
Associate Director
Florida Studio Theatre
Served as Associate Director for Florida Studio Theatre's summer TYA original cabaret, On the Road Again. Featuring songs deeply associated with cities across the USA, this piece was performed as a traveling production in partnership with local parks, libraries, churches, and community centers.
In addition to Associate Direction, I provided tour management for the show as well.
"Orpheum High School Musical Theatre Awards"
Assistant Director
Orpheum Theatre Group
For ten years, I have worked with the Orpheum Theatre Group in Memphis on their annual High School Musical Theatre Awards. An affiliate of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, this program engages high school students from a four-state area in an annual education and outreach program, performance, and awards show. For the last decade, I have coached the lead actor and actress nominees on their performance, as well as their adjudication for consideration to the Jimmys. For the last three years, I have taken additional duties as Assistant Director, taking the lead on staging and cleaning the 14-minute combined lead actor and actress medley for the show's director.
"Greater Giving Benefit"
Artistic Director
The University of Alabama
After co-creating the Greater Giving Benefit with a fellow student at The University of Alabama, I went on to serve as the Producing Artistic Director for three years. This annual cabaret concert featured songs, scenes, monologues, dance, and spoken word, with proceeds benefitting Five Horizons Health Services in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Duties included reviewing submitting work, coaching directors and choreographers, collaborating with designers, and directing solo pieces to fill the show between larger, ensemble numbers. The show continues annually today.
"Kyle is a talented young man with a bright future in the theatre"
Brett Batterson, President & CEO - Orpheum Theatre Group
Other Artistic Work
ACTING
From raucous musical comedies to Shakespearian tragedies to Children's Theatre to Brechtian Epics, I have developed myself as both specialized and versatile.
Additionally, I have extensive experience in professional improv and sketch comedy, as an actor, director, and writer.
Finally, I've had the opportunity to act in many readings and developmental projects, helping to bring playwrights' early visions to life.
TEACHING
& RESEARCH
My teaching credits have taken me across the United States. With experience working with students from age six to 96, my teaching interests include Audition Techniques, Acting for the Stage, Puppetry Building and Manipulation, Improvisation, and Theatre History.
My research on the origins of American Tap Dance can be found in the 2019 edition of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research Proceedings.
PUPPETRY
With extensive experience in theatre for young audiences, I have had the privilige of creating exciting and unexpected moments through the art of puppetry. Having studied hand/rod, stick, shadow, and more, I've served as a performer, designer, and director in the realm of puppetry and found object manipulation.
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
For the past five years, I've held leadership roles in the nonprofit sector, the last three of which have been at the Executive Director level. These experiences have deepened my soft leadership skills, as well as more functional skills in fundraising, marketing, board governance, finance, and strategic planning.
RESUME & CV
Click below to download a directing-focused resume or a larger curriculum vitae featuring directing, performance, teaching, research, writing, and executive leadership experience.
ACTING TESTIMONIALS
Wendy Franz Managing Director, Colorado Shakespeare Festival
"Kyle is a gifted actor whose natural grace is complemented by his intelligence and discipline. He is an excellent collaborator and a joy to have in the rehearsal room."
"Having Kyle Van Frank in an acting company is a true gift.
He leads by the highest of examples- always first off book, first off blocking,
first to help stage management, first to “break the rehearsal seal” by trying something
exquisitely outrageous in rehearsal."
Seth Panitch, Head of MFA/BFA Acting Programs The University of Alabama
"Kyle is an actor with great energy, elasticity, and
impeccable comic timing.
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