“Anne Frank a Musical” Is a Tone-Poem with Dynamic Performances and a Piercing Inner Soul

Sep 19, 2019 by Two Sues On the Aisle

By Susie Rosenbluth and Sue Weston – Two Sues on the Aisle

With “Anne Frank a Musical,” producer-director David Serero has broken new ground. Working under the auspices of the American Sephardi Federation, he and the work’s creator, composer and lyricist Jean-Pierre Hadida, are currently presenting American audiences with a cantata that is more of a tone-poem, a deeply felt response to an iconic story so well known that its young heroine is a metaphor for all that was lost in the Holocaust and all that persists as a shining beacon to a Jewish future whose mantra is “Never Again.”

The owner and artistic manager of a successful advertising agency in France, Mr. Hadida is also a prolific composer, known for writing the music of more than 500 radio and television commercials. His “Anne Frank” has played to sold-out houses not only in Paris, but throughout Europe.

The production at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16^th Street, in Manhattan, marks his piece’s New York debut.

Mood on Stage

The simplicity of the stage at the Center for Jewish History suits this production well. In a small annex behind a bustling wholesale spice business, 14-year-old Anne (Kristyn Vario) chronicles her experiences while her parents and sister plus four other Dutch Jews hide from the Nazi terror, hoping to survive longer than it will take for the Germans to be defeated.

Mr. Hadida’s score, performed with impassioned resonance by pianist Kent Dennis, who serves also as the piece’s music director, and cellist E. Zoe Hassman, is soul-piercing. The music shifts between hope, internal resilience, and the frustration of intentionally choosing imprisonment over open enlistment in battle in order to survive. As Otto Frank (Mr. Serero) tells young Peter Van Pels (Wendell Hester), staying alive is also a form of resistance.

Despite its self-depiction as a “musical,” this production of Anne Frank is more about mood. While some of the melodies and lyrics are catchy, such as “You Don’t Understand,” sung by Anne, her sister, Margot (Sarakate Coyne), and their mother, Edith (Lisa Monde) to illustrate a problem that has nothing to do with Nazis or hiding, but, rather, normal conflict between mothers and teenage daughters, or the songs that accompany the budding romance between Anne and Peter, this is not a production that expects audiences to tap their feet or leave humming tunes. Instead, they are engulfed in atmosphere, suffused by the sense of isolation, desperation, and deep devotion that binds the Frank and Van Pels families and the dentist, Fritz Pfeiffer (Erik Contzius), together in a tiny space.

The story unfolds with dexterity and ease, allowing an understanding of how the annex’s residents structured their daily lives to provide constructive order. They listened to the radio at seven in the evening for news; they read with relish magazines smuggled to them; they study French.

Superb Cast

The performances were superb. As Anne, Ms. Vario, a student at the Manhattan School of Music, epitomized a young girl trapped by forces beyond her control, longing to breathe free and seeking whatever knowledge or adventures are still open to her. Ms. Vario’s vocal range is astonishing, and it would be surprising if audiences don’t hear more from this appealingly charming young actress in years to come. She won hearts in the audience.

As Edith Frank, Ms. Monde, a soprano, soared and provided a wonderful balance against Mackenzie Tank’s (Augusta Van Pels) velvet mezzo. Jacob Waid (Herman Van Pels) offered warmth and generosity of spirit often denied to his character who, as described by Anne herself in the diary, longs for more food than he is entitled to and is often brusque. Too often, the Van Pels as a couple are played for little more than comic relief. In this piece, they are not only called by their real names (in the published “Diary,” they are called the Van Daans), they are given the dignity they probably enjoyed in real life.

In the book, the dentist is called “Dussel.” Here, he, too is given his real name, and Mr. Contzius plays him as a man overwhelmed not only by his own tragedy but the guilt of abandoning his adored non-Jewish wife and her child.

The heart of the production is embodied in Mr. Serero’s Otto Frank, played as the anchoring leader of the band of fugitives in the annex. It is he who insists on making sure his daughters as well as Peter keep up with their lessons, preparing themselves for the day they will be free to return to school. He is the peacemaker who welcomes the stranger and knows how to smile even when the world around him is collapsing. Mr. Serero’s baritone is, by turns, loving, wistful, and resolute. The responsibility is his, and he is resolved to do whatever is necessary, until there is nothing left to do.

Ensemble Piece

This is an ensemble piece which also includes Alex Schecter, a study in the keen art of observation, as the narrator and Emily Samuelson, as the radio soloist who delivers a fierce rendition of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. The words, by German poet Friedrich Schiller, match the sentiment in the annex as the residents learn from a clandestine radio report that the Allies have landed and D-Day has begun. As Miep, the trusted employee who seeks to help the hiding fugitives, Jordan Flippo gives her role the compassion of a bystander who knows she is risking her life for others.

As director, Mr. Serero was responsible for creating the chemistry among the actors and using the small space effectively to differentiate between life in the annex and the outside world, creating a mental and physical separation.

There will be two more performances of “Anne Frank a Musical” at the Center for Jewish History: Monday, September 23, and Tuesday, September 24, both at 8pm. It is a show that should not be missed.

As contrasted with many traditional recountings of the Holocaust which focus on footage of the tragedies or listing socio-economic factors, the story of Anne Frank is forever fresh, real, and compelling. As Mr. Hadida points out, in many ways, there has been no evolution. Children around the world continue to experience cruel persecution, and Mr. Hadida suggests that part of the vow never to forget the victims of the Holocaust is resolving to remember these modern victims, too.

*****

Two Sues on the Aisle bases its ratings on how many challahs it pays to buy (rather than make) in order to see the play, show, film, or exhibit being reviewed.

“Anne Frank a Musical” received 5 Challahs