WEISSLER, BARRY and FRAN, U.S. theatrical producers. Fran Weissler majored in drama at New York University, while her husband, she said, dropped out of Rutgers Law School after a year. Both started out in retailing but formed the National Artists Management Company in 1970 to bring classic plays to children. Beginning in 1982 with Othello, the Weisslers produced 19 plays on Broadway through to a revival of Sweet Charity in 2005. Their presentations on Broadway, including Medea (1982), Your Arms Too Short to Box With God (1982), Zorba (1983), Cabaret (1987), Macbeth (1988), Gypsy (1989), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1990), Fiddler on the Roof (1990), Grease (1994), and Chicago (1996), which ran for 10 years as a revival. They received five Tony awards, for Chicago, Othello, Fiddler on the Roof, Gypsy, and Annie Get Your Gun (1999).

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.

Weissler, Barry and Fran