Written by Victoria Witke
Despite being more comfortable behind the curtain, Michael Frank plays a starring role in many student’s lives.
Frank has worked as Performing Arts Center (PAC) director for 21 years and feels blessed to be a part of “such a wonderful and talented” community. His passion for theatre is contagious. His dedication inspires.
But Frank’s love for theatre didn’t start when he reached adulthood. In fact, he’s been involved in it since his senior year of high school.
“When I was in high school, our choir director would do a couple of musical shows,” Frank said. “Our senior year, we did You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and our choir director found out my father was a carpenter. I got suckered into actually designing the set for it.”
However, his heart has not always been set on technical theatre.
“I started going out to college as an industrial chemistry major,” Frank said.
Frank had mentioned to his scenic design professor that he had work study money and needed to find a labor job on campus. The professor found him a job building sets with the technical theatre department.
“After the first couple of weeks of working there, I was hooked. By the end of the semester, I transferred my major into a technical theatre major, and I’ve been screwed ever since,” Frank said.
After graduating college, he became a professional stage technician and a facility manager for about fifteen years. But one day when he was working at the DeVos Place, he heard that Northview was hiring for the PAC director position.
“One of my friends mentioned that this job was available, and it was a brand new theatre, and that I’d be perfect for the job.” Frank said. “So, that’s why I applied for it. I happened to have the most experience out of everyone that applied.”
Frank was hired about six months after the PAC opened and still holds the title of the first and only director.
Out of the hundreds of shows Frank contributed to, one of his favorite memories has been working on the set of Grease.
“I got my hands on a 1952 Plymouth that was converted into an electric car. It was a little scary because they had to come onto stage and have to turn it. One night, they came in a little fast and we were worried they would hit the orchestra,” Frank said.
Usually, Frank is the man behind the scenes. One time, however, he was a performer in a teacher talent show.
“I actually did a solo in that show,” Frank said, “Scariest thing in my life. I hate being the center of attention.”
While the job has many positives, the most challenging part of this job, for Frank, is the time commitment.
“With my job, I’m the first one here and the last one to leave,” Frank said. “So, there are times where I get here at seven A.M. in the morning and don’t leave until midnight.”
Aside from the long hours, theatre is very “hurry-up-and-wait”.
“You have to hurry and get everything set up, and then you’re just kinda sitting around, waiting for a couple hours for the event to get over, and then you hurry up and tear everything down or reset for the next day,” Frank said.
Despite all of the challenges, Frank finds his job is rewarding.
“The most rewarding part is the appreciation that I get from the students, faculty, and parents for the job that I do here, “Frank said. “The recognition I get, and the joy of being able to hear the applause during a show or after a show, hearing how wonderful the show is, how much they appreciate it [makes it worth it.]”
The students at the high school adore Frank. He is easy to get along with and many can relate to his witty personality.
“How me and my friends described him is that he’s got the brain of a teenager in an adult body,” stage crew member and senior Michal Warmuskerken said.“He is very funny, very sarcastic, and snarky, too.”
Frank has taught valuable life lessons to students and is a role model for many.
“[He taught me to] just laugh at yourself because it’s better to laugh at yourself than to make yourself cry when you mess up. You gotta learn how to make humor out of situations that are uncomfortable. Even when you mess up, own up to it and make jokes out of it. You live a very short life. There’s no point in being like ‘Oh, I didn’t do this’ and being all stubborn about it. You made the mistake, and you laugh about it, and if you don’t, that’s stupid,” Warmuskerken said.
As much as Frank feels blessed to be a part of the community, the community is highly appreciative and grateful to have him.
Great story about an amazing man!