Half Moon Theatre Announces YOURS, ANNE: A Retelling of the Anne Frank Story

When she was 13 years old, Anne Frank, like many young girls, received a diary for her birthday. More than 70 years later, the diary she kept is read in classrooms around the world, produced as movies, plays and musicals. This spring, Half Moon Theatre proudly presents a play based on Anne's diary called Yours, Anne. The play has a limited run of two weekends at The Culinary Institute of America's Marriott Pavilion.

Yours, Anne by Enid Futterman is an 80-minute musical adaptation of "Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank and "The Diary of Anne Frank" by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. The show features music by Michael Cohen and is directed by Michael Schiralli. Yours, Anne premiered off-Broadway in 1996 and has been performed around the world, including venues in the Netherlands, South Africa, Japan and Lincoln Center.

This critically-acclaimed musical brings to life Anne's diary about her experiences as a young girl living in hiding with her family for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during WWII. "More than seven decades later, the contradiction between the tragedy of Anne Frank's circumstances, and the triumph of her spiritual survival, is even more striking. Anne transcended the oppression of the Holocaust by inspiring generations throughout the world with her writing," Futterman said. Yours, Anne is a beautiful and timely coming-of-age story that lifts up important themes for audiences of all ages, including the need for tolerance, and the power of love, friendship and the and the power of words to take us through and beyond dark times.

Half Moon Theatre, a professional theatre company based in Poughkeepsie, NY sought to bring Yours, Anne to the Hudson Valley as part of its 10th anniversary season. "One of the maIn Focuses of Half Moon Theatre is to present professional theatre productions which tell an authentic story as it relates to the human spirit," Molly Katz, executive director of Half Moon Theatre, said. "Several months ago local theatre enthusiasts and community leaders such as Rabbi Leah Berkawitz from Vassar Temple expressed an interest in producing this show, and our team at Half Moon agreed. Yours Anne embodies everything we want to bring to Hudson Valley, and more. We felt that it was definitely a story that needed to be told and it fit perfectly within our 10th anniversary season."

Yours, Anne will be performed at The Culinary Institute of America's Marriott Pavilion from March 25 through April 2 and weekday matinee performances for schools and community groups will be held on Friday, March 31 and Tuesday, April 4 at 10 a.m. Tickets range from $18 - $35 and discounts are available for groups of 8 or more. Opening night audiences will enjoy a complimentary reception featuring traditional Jewish dishes immediately following the show, and on March 26 a 'talk-back" with the cast and creative team will follow the performance. For tickets, visit www.halfmoontheatre.org or call (845) 235-9885.

Preceding the opening of Yours, Anne, Half Moon Theatre, in collaboration with the FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY, will present "Anne Frank: Contemporary Perspectives in the Arts and Humanities," a panel discussion. This free, public event will take place on Sunday, March 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the Library's Henry A. Wallace Center. The discussion will be moderated by Paul Sparrow, Director of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, and will include: Leon Botstein, President of Bard College and Leon Levy Professor in the Arts and Humanities; Edna Nahshon, Professor of Jewish Theater and Drama at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York; and Enid Futterman, lyricist and librettist of Yours, Anne. Cast members of Yours, Anne will also perform musical excerpts from the show. A reception with light refreshments will immediately follow the discussion. For reservations visit FDRLibary.org.

Photo credit: photos are of public domain/Wikimedia.