Fran Kirmser wasn't into football when she attended Wilton High School in the late 1980s. Dance was her thing.

But check out the new Broadway play "Lombardi," which explores the life of the late Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, and you'll find Kirmser's name – above the title.

Fran Kirmser is co-producer, with Tony Ponturo, of "Lombardi," which opened to mostly favorable reviews Oct. 21 at the Circle in the Square Theatre. The one-act play co-stars Dan Lauria ("The Wonder Years") as the fiery, emotional coach who led the Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowls, and two-time Emmy Award-winner Judith Light ("One Life to Live," "Who's the Boss?") as his wife, Marie.

Keith Nobbs portrays a Look magazine writer who spends a week with Lombardi; this fictional character is based on the writer W.C. Heinz, who actually did spend considerable time with the coach and his family. Three of Lombardi's greatest players, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor and Dave Robinson, are also featured in the drama.

"Dan Lauria is an actor's actor, very passionate, a most gracious guy through and through," Kirmser said in an interview with the Wilton Patch this week. "He's a dream to work with."

Lauria has a football background, too: He played the game at Southern Connecticut State University.

In collaboration with the National Football League, the theatre lobby has been transformed into a museum-quality installation featuring Lombardi and Packer memorabilia. Included are footballs from the 1965 NFL championship game and Super Bowl I, both signed by members of the Packers.

After she went to see the show, Susan Lombardi was pleased with the depiction of her parents. "My father was perfect. You had my mother to a T," Kirmser related.

Fran Kirmser, 39, is delighted to be where she is at this stage of her life. As the principal in Manhattan-based Fran Kirmser Productions, LLC, she has garnered acclaim for her work as a producer, promoter and fund-raiser for dance and theater.

She was the producer for the revival of the rock musical "Hair," which opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on March 31, 2009, and proceeded to win a Tony for Best Musical Revival. It's now on a national tour.

She also produced August Wilson's "Radio Golf," the finale in Wilson's 10-play cycle that chronicled African-American life in the 20^th century. This garnered four Tony nominations, including one for Best Play, and won the New York Drama Critics Circle for Best American Play.

On the personal front, she is the mother of Pia, who will celebrate her sixth birthday on Thanksgiving.

As a young girl, Frances Renee Kirmser entertained serious theatre aspirations herself – but on the stage as a performer. She was into dance big time. "Her specialty was jazz," says her mother, Sally Kirmser, who with her husband, Ralph, still reside on Drum Hill Road.

As Fran explains, "I took to dance early on. I really had a love for it. Fortunately, my parents let me tour with the Connecticut Ballet Theatre." 

She toured with this prominent statewide group for two seasons, performing in "The Nutcracker" (of course) and "Giselle" in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and elsewhere in the Northeast. "It gave me a meaningful experience I wanted to hang onto," she says.

Enrolling at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Fran continued to perform in school productions and graduated – with honors – in 1993 with a double major, psychology and dance. Her repertoire grew to include Ralph Lemon, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Co., Isadora Duncan and American Dance Machine.

However, a serious foot injury made her realize that a career as a dancer was not to be.

"I crushed the medial sesamoid bone, which allows the balls of the foot to pivot," she says. "I was very disappointed. It was very hard to transition when you're used to all that activity." 

So, with degree in hand, Kirmser taught dance at PS 59 and PS 131 in Manhattan. Although separated by just two dozen blocks, the schools were poles apart in other respects. "PS 131 was like a private school. Almost brand new. It had a music room," she says. "At PS 59, you had metal detectors. I was teaching in the hallway with a boom box."

In the mid-1990s, Kirmser added fund-raising to her repertoire, holding positions in development, special events, booking and representation with Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, Musical Theater Works and other organizations. In 2002, she founded Made to Move, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of public knowledge of dance and theater.

"Personally," she says, "I feel pretty happy in my life." But there's still more to do. "Doing good things in the community. When you can give back to your community, that's when you're really successful."

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