[NEohioPAL] Diary of Anne Frank opens Jan 31 in Aurora

[ACT Business Manager]

Aurora Community Theatre
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 2, 2014

Contact: 

Christine Patronik-Holder

330-562-1818

 

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

Opens January 31

 

AURORA---- The Diary of Anne Frank, the award-winning, inspiring play about a young girl and her
family who hide from the Nazis during World War II, opens at 8 pm Jan. 31 for an eight-show run
Fridays and Saturdays through Feb. 22 at Aurora Community Theatre, 115 E. Pioneer Trail. 

 

ACT will present Wendy Kesselman's adaptation of the play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
(winner of the 1956 Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, and Critics Circle Award).  The play is based on
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, edited by Otto Frank.  Kesselman's powerful, new update
interweaves recently discovered writings from Anne's original diary with survivor accounts to create
a dramatic story in which Anne emerges from history as an intensely gifted young girl, who confronts
her rapidly changing life and the increasing horror of her time with astonishing honesty, wit, and
determination.

 

In July 1942, Anne and seven others took surreptitious refuge in the secret annex above an Amsterdam
business in order to avoid arrest and deportation by the occupying Nazis. Throughout her 25-month
captivity Anne kept a record of their daily life in the diary she received for her 13th birthday,
later adding notebooks and loose-leaf paper. In August 1944, following an informant's tip, Nazis
stormed the annex and arrested the hidden families, all of whom, except Anne's father, were later
killed in concentration camps.

 

Roseann Canfora directs this compelling play. Kiara Durbin takes on the challenging role of Anne
Frank with Jack Warren playing her father, Otto, Jennifer Warren her mother Edith, and Megan
Lebowitz her sister Margot. 

 

Joining the Frank family in hiding were the Van Daan family and others.  Susan Henthorn will play
Mrs. Van Daan, Bill Whitaker, Mr. Van Daan, Mitch Pollock, Peter Van Daan, and Kevin Horak later,
Mr. Dussel.

 

Two risk-taking friends, Miep Gies and Mr. Kraler, are played by Jennifer Smith and Gary Bakst, who
surreptitiously provide food and supplies during two years of confinement in the attic.  Suspense is
heightened by possible discovery by Dan Hild, and others.

 

 

 

Jennifer Teller, serves as producer, Gay Repella as bookholder and Maggie Hamilton on sound. Don
Arbuckle designed the set built by Paul Chechak and decorated by Jean Arbuckle. Other key crew areas
include Tanya Shively and Rose Dougherty on props, Marianne Gingras, costumes and Meghan Connolly
provides her expertise on hair and makeup, with the assistance of fellow stylists KG Galindo and
Chelsea Cross of Lucia's Salon in Hudson.  Craig Megyes and Sonny Canfora provide photography and
Dorothy Edwards serves as house manager with Vicki Rizzo Prato heading hospitality. 

 

ACT is seeking assistance from anyone interested in minor roles and a few remaining crew positions,
including Stage Manager and Lighting Designer.  Those interested in being part of this production,
call Producer Jennifer Teller at 330 562 6792

.

 

The 1947 publication of Anne's diary, with a foreword by Eleanor Roosevelt, was a publishing
phenomenon, deeply penetrating American consciousness with its vivid, revealing, and deeply personal
account of the Holocaust. The book has since sold 30 million copies and been translated into 67
languages. 

 

Very few plays have moved the Broadway critics to write such glowing notices, receiving the
unanimous acclaim of all the top New York reviewers. 

 

"A lovely tender drama.Strange how the shining spirit of a young girl now dead can filter down
through the years and inspire a group of theatrical professionals in a foreign land." New York Times

 

"There is so much beauty, warm humor, gentle pity.in THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK that it is difficult to
imagine how this play could be contained in one set on one stage.this is a fine drama." New York
Daily News

 

"It's difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be
crushed by grim reality. It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and
impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are
truly good at heart."

           Anne Frank, from her diary on July 15, 1944

              (less than one month before the Nazis arrest her and           her family, sending
them all to the concentration   camps. 

 

The Diary of Anne Frank is presented through special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Adaptation originally produced on Broadway by David Stone, Amy Nederlander-Case, Jon B. Platt,
Jujamcyn Theatre, and Hal Luftig in association with Harriet Newman Leve and James D. Stern.

 

Tickets at $16 for adults, $11 for age 18 and under, are available online, including seat selection,
at  <http://www.auroracommmunitytheatre.com/> auroracommmunitytheatre.com, or call the box office at
330-562-1818. 

 

Group discounts are available by calling the box office. Opening night tickets include a
complimentary after-show gala and the opportunity to meet cast and crew. 

Aurora Community Theatre is located at 115 E. Pioneer Trail, near the intersection of SR 43 and 306,
at the gazebo, in the center of Aurora. ACT extends appreciation to The Denise G. & Norman E. Wells,
Jr. Family Foundation for their generous underwriting of the Wells Main Stage. 

###

ACT, celebrating 54 successful seasons in 2013-14, annually presents three regular season shows, a
benefit play, a summer stock production plus two children's summer workshops, reaching an annual
audience of nearly 7,000. ACT showcases the region's top actors, musicians, costume and set
designers, construction, lighting, sound and backstage crews -- all of whom generously donate their
time and talent. 

 

 

----------------

Christine Patronik-Holder
Business and Marketing Manager
Aurora Community Theatre
PO Box 9 (mailing address)
115 E Pioneer Trail (theatre address)
Aurora, Ohio 44202
330-562-1818
christine at auroracommunitytheatre.com
<mailto:christine at auroracommunitytheatre.comwww.auroracommunitytheatre.com> 
www.auroracommunitytheatre.com

 

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