The Stage

Donmar team quits to focus on Grandage commercial plans

Published Wednesday 19 July 2006 at 11:30 by Nuala Calvi

Exclusive - Donmar Warehouse’s senior management team is quitting the theatre to launch a new commercial production company exploiting opportunities for artistic director Michael Grandage to develop more West End projects like Evita alongside his role at the subsidised venue.

General manager Tobias Round has already left to start work as joint director of the company - Creative Management and Productions Limited - which will manage the careers of Grandage and potentially other big-name directors and writers who want to develop new commercial projects.

Round will be joined in January by the Donmar’s executive producer Nick Frankfort, who leaves after 11 years at the theatre. The pair have staggered their departures in order to minimise disruption to the venue and Round has already been replaced by James Bierman, while Frankfort’s job is now being advertised.

Frankfort told The Stage: “Our main function will be to produce plays, both here and abroad, not just in the West End but touring internationally as well. We will be managing Michael’s work and in the future also taking on other creative practitioners.

“We are going to commission new work but we will also be looking at revisiting classic plays and musicals. We will be bringing the skills and production values we shared at the Donmar to a commercial market.”

The representative aspect of the company will be run in a similar style to management firms in the US, which have more of a producing role than straightforward agencies.

Round said: “We are trying to emulate how management companies in America work with talent - developing projects for them and taking a producing role in those.

“This company will try to offer Michael the ability to develop the kind of commercial projects he wants to be doing. We are experienced at developing projects for him and this offers him an in-house place to go to develop things commercially without having to go elsewhere.”

The pair have already begun extensive discussions with other high-profile artists and are refining a list of potential productions they would like to become involved with.

Both Round and Frankfort previously worked in the commercial sector, with the former having been executive producer at Adventures in Motion Pictures. CMP Ltd will focus on theatre but is likely to also produce film and other media projects.

A spokeswoman for Grandage said he was committed to his role as artistic director of the Donmar and would not be spending any less time at the venue.