ABOUT FRED

Fred Krohn, a leader in the performing arts industry for more than fifty years, started in concert promotion and theater management in the 1970s while still a student at Carleton College. Though he obtained a law degree at the University of Minnesota, his passion for music and theater led him to a career that resulted in the transformation of Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis from a blighted and unsafe area into a vibrant theatre district.

Krohn was instrumental in the purchase of the Orpheum Theatre by Bob Dylan and his brother David Zimmerman in 1978, and a subsequent upgrade and reopening of the theatre with a successful run of A CHORUS LINE, demonstrating the potential for first-run Broadway theatre in the Midwest.

His key role in the preservation of the Hennepin Avenue theaters continued with spearheading the effort to save and completely restore the State Theatre. The multi-week sellout run of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, starring Donny Osmond in 1992, and Krohn’s other promotions at the State Theatre led the City of Minneapolis to finance a complete restoration of the Orpheum Theatre and award the management of both theatres to Krohn’s company, Historic Theatre Group. Krohn reopened the Orpheum in 1993 with one of the first engagements of the Cameron Macintosh blockbuster, MISS SAIGON.

He led the negotiations with Disney to host the world premiere of THE LION KING, which went on to be the most successful Broadway show in history. Krohn attracted other U.S. and world premieres to the Orpheum, including Julie Andrews in VICTOR, VICTORIA and Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

In 2002, Krohn worked with Hennepin Theatre Trust’s Tom Hoch to persuade the City of Minneapolis to save and refurbish Hennepin Avenue’s 1,000-seat Pantages Theatre, completing the Hennepin Theatre District.

As president, general manager, and co-owner of Historic Theatre Group, Krohn managed three historic theaters—the State, Orpheum, and Pantages—and presented hundreds of Broadway shows and concerts by entertainers from a virtual Who’s Who of multi-generations and genres, ushering in a lively new era of theatrical entertainment in downtown Minneapolis.

Retired since 2018, Fred Krohn has traveled to all seven continents and supported organizations which are working to save the world's wild creatures, including Kenya's Sheldrick Wildlife Trust for elephants and rhinos, and China's Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda.