Jon Stoll

Jon Stoll (1953–2008) was the founder and president of Fantasma Productions, one of the world's longest standing and largest concert promoters and producers.

Jonathan Edward Stoll was born in Mamaroneck, N.Y. on November 6, 1953 to Marjorie and Larry Stoll. As a 15-year-old student in Mamaroneck, Stoll decided to raise money for his school by staging a battle of the bands. He also gained valuable experience working backstage at New York-area theaters, and at 18 he was managing a rock band. While at Bryant College in Smithfield, R.I., he continued to stage shows, and when his parents bought a condominium in Fort Lauderdale, he soon began promoting concerts at South Flor ida drive-in theaters. "For $3 or $4 you could go see a concert, film, etc.," he said in 1985. "We'd draw 6,000 to 10,000 people."

From those early business spurts sprang Fantasma Productions, which promoted concerts, staged trade shows and published Easy Times, a youth-oriented weekly newspaper. Gradually, the Fantasma empire expanded to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, then throughout Florida, the Southeast and other major venues, including in Las Vegas. Fantasma also was responsible for booking acts for SunFest, Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood. Stoll, however, never forgot his adopted hometown. In 1984 he bought the Carefree Center, a derelict movie theater and bowling alley on South Dixie Highway. He began a foreign film series and brought small concerts into the theater. He opened an art gallery and a small restaurant, and the old bowling alley became Comedy Corner, one of the top venues for live comedy in the nation and a proving ground for budding young comics such as Dan Whitney, alias Larry the Cable Guy. By 1987, Fantasma had grown to 50 employees who booked and managed more than 500 concerts a year. After hurricanes in 2005 damaged the Carefree Center beyond repair, he bought an abandoned church just north of Southern Boulevard, off Parker Avenue, and created The Theatre, another small concert hall.

In the mid-'90s, Stoll was one of the few independent promoters who refused buyout attempts by large corporations, maintaining that it was bad for business and bad for artists. "I just think it's unfortunate that there are less options for artists," he told The New York Times in 2006. "If you have no options, then you have to deal with one buyer - and whatever they decide to pay you." In 2000, he was named Independent Promoter of the Year at the 12th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards in Las Vegas, and in 2007 he served as president of the National Association of Concert Promoters. He rubbed shoulders with the likes of Frank Sinatra; Liza Minnelli; Sting; Elton John; Bruce Springsteen; Kris Kristofferson; Willie Nelson; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; the Red Hot Chili Peppers; and Faith Hill. He was never happier than with family and friends. Shortly before an untimely stroke, he drove his three boys, ages 21, 12 and 8 from Palm Beach to Las Vegas. "We had a ball," he said. "The kids loved it. I did, too!"