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Performer Finds Her Muse Consulting

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By DEREK MAUL

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 25, 2009

BRANDON - In January, Janet Frenkel was appointed artistic director for the Brandon Youth Theatre.

In February, she incorporated Take 2 the Stage, a theatrical training company.

In March, she launched The Frenkel Group.

"The Frenkel Group is a marketing and management consulting enterprise," she said. "Take 2 the Stage focuses on creating an environment where young people can learn technique, auditioning and the business."

Her Brandon Youth Theatre, founded in 1981, is producing "Seussical the Musical," scheduled to be performed April 17 and 18 at the Barn at Winthrop.

"We have about 40 kids involved," Frenkel said. "Jeremy Silverman is musical director, and I have an unbelievable team of parent volunteers."

Take 2 the Stage has the full support of the youth theater.

"I booked Center Place Fine Art and Civic Association in Brandon July 24 to 25," she said. "We're doing the musical 'Children's Letters to God.' The focus is having the kids experience as much as possible of the professional world. There's no fee for parents, and I pay the actors a small stipend per show."
Frenkel moved to Brandon in 2001.

"I'd been living in Dallas," she said, "working as managing partner for the Gallup Organization's southwest division. We sold management consulting services to Fortune 500 companies. Then I realized the nanny was spending more time with my children than I was, so I decided to make some big changes."

She was introduced to musical theater at Coral Gables High School in Miami, where she played Laurey in the musical "Oklahoma."

"The University of Florida gave me a voice scholarship," she said, "but I didn't take it seriously enough."

She successfully auditioned with the American Academy for the Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles and graduated with her associate's degree and a Screen Actors Guild card, courtesy of a role in David Lynch's 1986 film "Blue Velvet."

"My internship with TMI Talent Management International introduced me to artists like Bill Cosby, as well as the business side," she said.
Frenkel returned to Florida in 1987 to earn her political science degree from Florida State University.

The next decade saw a short marriage, moves to North Carolina and Michigan, and her most important role to date: mother to daughters Jackie and Jessie.

"We lived in suburban Detroit," she said. "My training made me a natural in real estate sales. Then I was asked to work with a new community television station. I hosted 'Canton this Month' for two years."

That's when Gallup offered Frenkel her big break.

"I opened the Dallas office in 1999," she said. "We became their second-most profitable division within nine months. It was a dream. It was wonderful. But I was very impressed with the money, I traveled too much and I was losing touch with my children."

Hence, the move to Brandon.

Since 2001, Frenkel has worked with the Sterling Research Group in St. Petersburg, helped organize the Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf in Clearwater, taught and consulted with Brandon Academy and Music Showcase, consulted with Dale Carnegie and helped develop marketing strategies for Leadership Forward of Atlanta.

She also has appeared in commercials, plays and independent film productions.

"Today, I'm excited about concentrating my efforts and my connections here in Brandon," she said. "This community is a treasure."

MEET JANET SALEM FRENKEL
BORN: Miami, 1963

EDUCATION: Coral Gables High School, 1981; American Academy for the Dramatic Arts, Los Angeles campus, 1986; Florida State University, 1989

CHILDREN: Jackie, 15; Jessie, 13

MOVED TO BRANDON: 2001

CONTACT: (813) 244-8669; e-mail: JSF1224@gmail.com.

LOOK FOR: "Festival of the Americas," a short film by Fred Smith debuting at the Ybor Festival of the Moving Image on April 4. Frenkel stars with daughter Jessie.

Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul@gmail.com.

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