Today is Anne Frank's birthday. Ever since the age of 10, I have loved Anne Frank. It might sound kooky, but all my life, she's been like a spiritual guide to me. She was born in 1929, and died at the age of 16 in a concentration camp. But her diary lives on, and today, to celebrate her birthday, her life and her legacy, Pete is taking me to see the play The Diary of Anne Frank. Usually I light a candle and say some prayers for her and all the victims of the Holocaust, just as a private blessing, but going to see the play seems appropriate. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend that you do. It changed my life. Here is the article about it....
Playhouse Jr., Point Park University's professional quality youth theatre company, closes its 62nd season with a new adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman, and directed by Shirley Tannenbaum. The Diary of Anne Frank runs May 27 - June 12 at The Playhouse in Oakland; local Holocaust survivors will speak after the 2 p.m. performances on June 5 and June 12.The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most well-known books in the world. But you've never seen it presented like this before. Performed for the first time in Pittsburgh, this new adaptation by Wendy Kesselman premiered on Broadway in 1997 and received two Tony Nominations in 1999 for Best Revival of a Play and Best Featured Actress (Linda Lavin), and two Drama Desk nominations. It brings history to life in a whole new way. At times both poignant and funny, the play depicts the tragedy of the Holocaust through the story of a young girl forced to hide with her family in an attic for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Anne stayed sane by writing in a diary, recording her impressions as the world fell apart around her. Audiences will experience anew the bleak terror and resolute hopefulness of the girl who wrote, "I don't think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that still remains."
Two post-show discussions with local Holocaust survivors will be held after the June 5 and June 12 performances. Moshe Baran will speak after the 2 p.m. performance on Sunday, June 5. Baran was born in 1920 in Horodok, Poland. During the Holocaust, he was in Horodok Ghetto, Krasny Ghetto/forced labor camp in Bielorussia and the forests and swamps near Wileyka-Ilia, Bielorussia. Baran had one brother and two sisters; he along with his brother and one sister survived. In addition, his mother was the only surviving mother from his hometown; his father and one sister perished.
Fritz Ottenheimer and Sam Weinreb will speak after the 2 p.m. performance on Sunday, June 12. Ottenheimer was born in 1925 in Constance, Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1939 with his parents and sisters, and served in the U.S. Army in Germany as a liberator in 1945 and 1946. After the war he worked with the U.S. military in the de-Nazification process in Germany. Weinreb was born in 1928 in Czechoslovakia. During the Holocaust, he was in prison in Budapest and Irsava, Hungary, and then was sent to Auschwitz. He had two brothers and one sister; none of his family survived the Holocaust.
In addition to the public performances, school groups will attend special fieldtrip performances on May 26, May 31, June 2, June 8 and June 9. Post-show discussions with local Holocaust survivors Moshe Baran, Francine Gelernter and Shulamit Bastacky will be held after the performances.
The Diary of Anne Frank will be performed in the Rauh Theatre at the Pittsburgh Playhouse from May 27 - June 12 on weekends. Shows run Fridays at 7:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Tickets for all shows are $7 and can be purchased by calling the Pittsburgh Playhouse box office at 412-392-8000 or online atwww.pittsburghplayhouse.com.
So, this morning Pete is getting up and heading over to a local hotel downtown to try out to be an extra in the new Batman movie...(he loves Batman)...and then we'll be attending the play later today. What do YOU have planned today? Anything fun? Well, if you're sitting around bored with nothing to do, take a trip to the Museum of Tolerance in LA, and think about Anne Frank. She might have gotten married and had 12 kids for all we know, she may have been a very famous writer, she may have never even published her diary. She had a whole lifetime ahead of her, but the Nazis took that away. It breaks my heart. She was only ONE of 1.5 MILLION kids who perished in the Holocaust. That's like one whole school disappearing every day for 8 years. Imagine that. Eight years.
If I could ask you another favor, in addition to seeing this play and going to the Museum of Tolerance, would you also say a prayer for Stephen T. Johns, the security officer (a former coworker of mine) at the Holocaust Museum in DC who was shot and killed two years ago on June 10th. Two days ago, the anniversary of his untimely and unexpected death was remembered at the Museum.
I don't know if you remember the news from 2 years ago, but on June 10, 2009, an 88 year old racist hate-filled anti-government angry man had the audacity to park his car directly in front of the Museum (a huge no-no), and marched right in to the front door area wearing a long trench coat and a Confederate Flag baseball hat---a suspicious person on an 85 degree day to say the least---and he pulled out a shot gun as Officer Johns opened the door to let him in, and blew him away point-blank. For no reason. He didn't know Officer Johns. But that didn't matter, he only shot him because he was black.
The bullet holes in the doors of the Museum remained there for a long time, and now they have a plaque and photo of Officer Johns just inside the Museum. The killer has since died, because another officer shot HIM back and landed him in the hospital. He is currently rotting in hell for what he did.
I remember that day very vividly. I had Florence at a doctor's office, and the t.v. was on--there was my former Chief of Staff, giving a statement to the police, there was the Director of the Museum, Sarah Bloomfield, visibly shaking, giving a press conference...and all the while I knew in my heart that those security guards who were supposed to be outside watching for any dangerous situation or person, were nowhere to be found. They were, as usual, just screwing around, probably flirting with tourists or out to lunch, and didn't even notice the guy or his car. But the Museum did a great job covering that part of the story up. I used to work there though, so I know the truth about it. My friends who still work there confirmed that suspicion when I voiced it.
Security guards at Museums in DC get paid CRAP, aren't fully prepared for things like that, and even though SOME carry guns on their holsters, most do NOT have bullets in them. I never really felt safe around them, because all they did was poke a stick in my purse, tell me to put my keys and any change in my pockets into a dish as I walked through metal detectors, and otherwise were usually seen laughing, telling jokes, or just plain bored and not paying attention at all.
Anyway, say a prayer for Anne Frank, her family, the victims of the Holocaust, and for Officer Johns. Go see the US Holocaust Memorial Museum if you haven't already. I'll give you a personalized tour if you like. That's what I did for 6 years. Go to the Museum of Tolerance also. It's an awesome place.
Bye for now Stephen. Have a great day, and I'll write again soon.
Love, Rebecca ps. See, I'm not ALWAYS writing or thinking about smut, nakedness or sluttiness. I do have a brain and a passion for teaching about something much bigger than all of us: the Holocaust. I'm a complex human.
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