STC’s Brigitte and Walter Fritz
Jay Clayton Wilson
During his very first season as a full time SaddleBrooke resident, Walter Fritz, a former performing arts teacher, an acclaimed producer, actor, singer and accomplished tennis player, partnered with Dick Partridge to win the 2016 STC Championship. We need to know more about this truly unique person.
First we should inquire into his successful background in the entertainment industry and teaching profession. We will find a driven over-achiever who demands that he excel in every endeavor. The teaching profession taught him to develop a sincere interest in helping others succeed. The entertainment industry taught him to develop networking skills among his peers.
High energy was evident as early as 1970 when Walter taught in a New Jersey performing arts school and started to direct musicals. He began playing the drums. Someone who heard him on the drums invited him to play and ultimately sing in such productions as Diamonds and Studs in which he performed as the tenacious lawman, Pinkerton. It is no surprise that he soon became the successful producer of such musicals as Bye Bye Birdie, My Fair Lady and Westside Story.
In the 80s he joined the Department of Defense in Bahrain as an educator and tennis coach. As fate would have it, a Prince’s child was a student. So was the person who would become the present Emir. The sheik himself asked Walter to produce the Borg vs. Gerulaitis match where he met Tina Turner who was a friend of Vitas Gerulaitis. Indeed, it’s all about names in the entertainment industry. It’s instinctive.
Later he went to Japan with DOD where he taught performing arts to gifted and talented international students. It was there that he gained fame. He and two friends wrote and produced Ja-pun for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. The popularity of the production propelled it into national prominence. The play ran for an incredible 25 years.
DOD sent him to Germany where he taught video and theater to international students. Once again, teaching was adjunct to his other talents. He played drums and acted in The Little Shop of Horrors and The Great China Wall. Get this. While playing the drums he noticed a beautiful lady in the audience. That lady became his wife, Brigitte.
Walter is simply unique. Into his burgeoning agenda he found time to become a powerful athlete. He taught tennis at every DOD facility during his teaching tenure. Teaching was not enough for our over-achiever. Between his many creative activities he also played tournament tennis. He played with such enthusiasm that he won the Karlsruhe Open in Germany and the Patricio DTV Tournament in Turkey. Walt, who has a roaring laugh that would make the MGM lion envious, has accomplished so much while giving so much. Presently he voluntarily devotes many hours per week to the Oro Valley Gaslight Music Hall as a producer, director, drummer and technician.
It’s just great to have Walter Fritz as a tennis buddy at STC.