PRODUCER
John Frost is the Managing Director of The Gordon Frost Organisation.
Born in Adelaide, he began in show business at the age of 16 as a dresser for J.C. Williamson on their production of Mame. Since then he has worked his way up the showbiz ladder: Wardrobe Master, Stage Manager, Company Manager and now Producer. In 1983 he teamed up with the late Ashley Gordon to form The Gordon/Frost Organisation. Together they negotiated the lease for Sydney’s Footbridge Theatre, where they successfully produced a range of shows including, Jerry’s Girls, Night Mother, The Venetian Twins and Women Behind Bars. The company then moved into large scale musicals such as Big River, The King and I, South Pacific, Hello Dolly!, The Secret Garden, Smokey Joe’s Café, Cabaret and Crazy for You.
He co-produced Sir Peter Hall’s acclaimed productions of Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband starring Googie Withers and John McCallum, and Lady Windermere’s Fan starring Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London.
In 1998 John Frost joined forces with Sports and Entertainment Limited (SEL) to produce Grease – The Arena Spectacular! The production broke all box office records for an arena event in Australia. His production of The King and I on Broadway won the coveted Tony Award® for ‘Best Revival of a Musical’ as well as the Drama Desk and New York Outer Critics Circle Award. John has also been the recipient of two Mo Awards and a Sydney Critics’ Circle Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 from GLUGS.
In 1999 John Frost and SEL presented The Main Event, which toured to critical acclaim and huge box office success. This was followed by a production of the Tony Award®-winning play Art starring Tom Conti.
A hugely successful production of The Sound of Music starring Lisa McCune was followed by Annie with Anthony Warlow, Man of La Mancha, The Wizard of Oz and Footloose.
In 2004/2005 John co-produced around Australia The Producers. This highly acclaimed production garnered five Helpmann Awards® including Best Musical for 2005. In the same year John also co-presented an arena production of Grease starring John Farnham.
John was represented on Broadway with the smash hit musical Hairspray for which he won his second Tony Award®.
Since January 2006 he has produced the national tours of the National Theatre of Great Britain’s celebrated production of An Inspector Calls, the Broadway theatre icon Mandy Patinkin and Hollywood and cabaret legend Debbie Reynolds.
John Frost, in partnership with The Really Useful Company Asia Pacific, presented The Phantom of the Opera Australia Tour starring Anthony Warlow. In 2009 John was represented on Broadway with the play, Exit the King, starring Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon. Also in that year, John brought Mandy Patinkin back on tour to Australia with fellow theatre icon Patti LuPone.
John is currently producer for the Julie Andrews World Tour of Gift of Music and is also one of the producers of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – The Musical, which is now playing in London.
In Australia, John is currently co-producing the Broadway blockbuster Wicked as well as producing Calendar Girls and the current Australian and Asian tour of Chicago.
In the 1999 Australia Day Honours, John was awarded an OAM for his contribution to the Arts.
Photo: Justine Walpole / Brisbane News
