At first glance, the story of a young girl who is forced to live in hiding for two years before finally meeting her death in a Nazi concentration camp doesn't necessarily seem to lend itself to a musical format.
But it's an idea that came to Spanish director Rafael Alvero ten years ago when he was working in Amsterdam and had a chance to visit the house where Anne Frank hid with her family from the Nazis.
"I felt I would one day bring the feelings, which the place and the story evoke, to the public through something I do with ease, which is produce music," Alvero told the AFP news agency.
History vs. entertainment
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Mid-East to hold detailed talks ... der Bildunterschrift: The diary isn't quoted directly in the musical He said he sees the musical -- entitled "The Diary of Anne Frank: A Song to Life" -- as more of a tragic opera. It is set to premiere on Feb. 28 in Madrid's Haagen-Dazs Calderon Theater.
Anne Frank's oldest living relative, her 82-year-old cousin Buddy Elias, is fiercely opposed to the idea of the Jewish girl's story being presented as entertainment. He heads the Swiss-based Anne Frank Fonds, which holds exclusive publishing rights to her diary. However, the organization cannot take legal action against Alvero because the diary is not directly quoted in the musical.
Until his death in 1980, Anne Frank's father, Otto Frank, had refused to allow any artistic adaptations of his daughter's diary.
The Anne Frank Foundation, which runs the museum in Amsterdam, has, according to Otto Frank's wishes, typically been cautious about backing artistic productions based on the girl's story.
Serious issues not new to musicals
However, after its initial scepticism, the foundation has thrown its full support behind Alvero and worked closely with him to ensure historical accuracy. The director convinced the foundation with "his quality of work and high standards," Jan Erik Dubbelman, the international director, told
Spiegel Online .
Alvero himself has said that the stage adaption is an effective way to share Anne Frank's tragic story. And since it's in Spanish, it can serve as a vehicle to bring a piece of Holocaust history to Latin America.
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He also pointed out that sombre topics have been addressed in musical before, such as in "Les Miserables" and "Jesus Christ Superstar."
Lead actress also lived in hiding
Anne Frank began writing her diary on her 13th birthday in 1942. Throughout the next two years she described everyday details of life in hiding, giving later generations a unique personal window into the Holocaust period.
She and her family were betrayed and arrested in 1944, when they were deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Anne died of typhus there in 1945. Since then, her diary has been published in nearly 70 languages.
Comparisons have been made between Anne Frank and the 13-year-old girl who is to portray her on stage, Isabella Castillo. The latter fled Cuba with her mother at a young age and the two hid for a time in Belize on their way to the US. That's where the comparison stops, however.
(Deutsche Welle)
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