A musical based on the “Diary of Anne Frank” is set to open in Madrid next month. The adaptation of the Holocaust text into a musical may be interpreted as in poor taste, yet The Anne Frank Foundation supports it:
Having been rewritten for films, plays and TV dramas, the story of the Jewish girl hiding out with her family in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam has never before been made as a musical. The Anne Frank Foundation, which jealously guards the rights to the diary - it once turned down Steven Spielberg when he wanted to make a film - has given its support. Jan Erik Dubbelman said: "This production respects the message of tolerance, within the tragedy, that we want to keep alive. Being in Spanish, it can also help to take the message of Anne Frank to Latin America."
The director of the play told BBC News that “the thing we want to do is through the music, to understand the story better.” In addition, the title character will be played by 13-year-old Isabella Castillo; Castillo’s mother was a Cuban refugee who fled to Belize before settling in Miami.
What is your opinion on the musical? Is it tacky and in bad taste or will it help promote the legacy of Anne Frank? Will the play’s “message” really make an impact on Latin Americans? If you could, would you go watch the musical?
Please express your point of view via the poll located on the right-hand column and/or as a response to this post.
Image- Boston Globe (“Isabella Castillo, who plays Anne in a Spanish theater troupe's version of "The Diary of Anne Frank," sat in the office of Otto Frank, Anne's father, at the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam. (Peter Dejong/Associated Press)”)
Sources- Ynetnews, BBC News, Guardian UK, New York Times
1 comment:
If it were called an "opera" based on the Diary of Anne Frank, I wonder if as many people would still find the concept tasteless and disrespectful.
Honestly, I think that it has the potential to be very good. Musicals aren't all singing cats and disco dancers on rollerskates, you know. Of course, it could also be terrible. It depends on the team that they have writing and producing it. But that's true for any adaptation, whether it be a movie, graphic novel, television production, or whatever. I don't think that there's anything inherently disrespectful about the concept of an Anne Frank musical. Like anything, it has the potential to be good or bad.
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