Geva Hosts A Special Exhibit, Post Show Conversations And The Stage Door Project To Coincide With THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

To coincide with Geva Theatre Center's production of The Diary of Anne Frank, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman, the theatre is hosting a special exhibit and a series of post-show conversations. These events allow Geva's audiences to further understand the characters and the social context of this play. In addition, Geva has partnered with an area high school for The Stage Door Project: The Diary of Anne Frank.

Geva has partnered with the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester and The Strong to create an exhibit exploring the Holocaust paralleled to the story of Anne Frank. The exhibit, located in the Lipson Lounge, will be free to the public and to theatergoers prior to, during intermission, and following each performance of The Diary of Anne Frank.

Upon entering Geva Theatre Center, patrons will notice a tall column filled with buttons with a message attached: "How do I make a difference today?" Inspired from an exhibit entitled "6 million +" by Antonia Stowe, which has traveled throughout Europe and is now a permanent art installation and education project at the University of Huddersfield in the U.K., Geva's hope is that patrons will each take a button and find a way to make a difference, large or small, in their own lives or in the lives of others, to spread the message of kindness and hope.

Geva, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, will offer post-show conversations following the 2pm performances on Sunday, February 25; Sunday, March 4; Sunday, March 11 and Sunday, March 18.

Geva's mission has always placed its work at the crossroads of artistic excellence and community engagement. One of the most unique education programs the theatre offers for emerging young artists in the Rochester area is the Stage Door Project. This program gives area high schools students the rare opportunity to explore the entire process of theatrical production with a nationally recognized, regional theatre. It offers an unparalleled professional experience fostering a deeper understanding of dramatic literature, the theatre industry and the process of bringing literature to life on the stage.

For the Stage Door Project: The Diary of Anne Frank, Geva is partnering with Pittsford Mendon High School. Pittsford Mendon has cast ten young actors from the High School as well as a number of students interested in technical theatre and marketing to join a creative team that mirrors Geva's. The stage management and stage operations students from Pittsford Mendon have had several opportunities to meet with and shadow Geva's professional in-house production staff, and a graphic design and theatre business student is working with Geva's marketing team. The cast and creative team have had the unique opportunity to sit in on Geva's rehearsals and to work with Geva's acting company of professional actors. In a nutshell, students are following the entire process of putting on a show at Geva Theatre Center. The Stage Door Project: The Diary of Anne Frank culminates in a unique and rare opportunity. After rehearsing the show independently at their school, the student cast will perform their own version of The Diary of Anne Frank, under the direction of Kelli Loucks Hawryschuk in the Wilson Stage on the set of Geva's production of The Diary of Anne Frank for a one-night-only performance on Thursday, March 15 at 7:30pm. Tickets for this performance are $16 and are available through the Geva Box Office: (585) 232-4382. For Geva Theatre Center and its professionals, it is an opportunity to share the wonder and creativity of students. The theatre acknowledges their roles as theatre stewards by interacting with this younger company and thanks them for the privilege of learning with them and from them. The Stage Door Project: The Diary of Anne Frank is supported in part by The Joseph & Irene Skalny Charitable Trust and The Guido and Ellen Palma Foundation.

The 2017-2018 Wilson Stage Series is sponsored by ESL Federal Credit Union and Rochester Regional Health. The Honorary Wilson Stage Series Sponsor is Dr. Dawn Lipson. The Diary of Anne Frank is produced with support from Lead Co-Producers Ames/Amzalak Memorial Trust and Flaum Management, and Media Sponsors Entercom and WROC TV.

The Diary of Anne Frank begins previews on February 13, opens February 17 and runs through March 18.

Founded in 1972, Geva Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional theatre company dedicated to creating and producing professional theatre productions, programs and services of a national standard. As Rochester's leading professional theatre, Geva Theatre Center is the most attended regional theatre in New York State, and one of the 25 most subscribed in the country, serving up to 160,000 patrons annually, including more than 16,000 students.

The 516-seat Elaine P. Wilson Stage is home to a wide variety of performances, from musicals to American and world classics. The 180-seat Ron & Donna Fielding Stage is home to Geva's own series of contemporary drama, comedy and musical theatre; Geva Comedy Improv; Geva's New Play Reading Series and the Hornets' Nest - an innovative play-reading series facilitating community-wide discussion on controversial topics. In addition, the Fielding Stage hosts visiting companies of both local and international renown.

Geva Theatre Center offers a wide variety of educational, outreach and literary programs, nurturing audiences and artists alike. Since 1995, the organization has been under the artistic direction of Mark Cuddy.

In 2007 Geva collaborated with Brighton High School for a shadowing project of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. The Brighton High School cast of the show and their director (who served as the assistant director for the Geva production) met with their professional counterparts in the Geva cast of Our Town to share their thoughts and examine the creative process while both productions rehearsed. At the conclusion of the project, the high school cast performed their production on the Geva Wilson Stage set. This joint venture paved the way for the first Stage Door Project, Almost, Maine in 2010 which welcomed nine area high schools into every step of our production process resulting in a public performance of Almost, Maine on the Geva Wilson Stage. In 2011, the Stage Door Design Project centered on the Geva production of Over the Tavern, where 14 area high school students were selected as scenic, lighting, sound and costume designers each responsible for the exploration and creation of some design element of the Over the Tavern script. In 2012, Geva offered a similar experience with A Raisin in the Sun. In 2013, Geva selected 16 area high school students to meet as a collective to discuss storytelling through design, observation, interpretation, choice and the function of design with our professional designers from The 39 Steps. They discussed concept and text with directors and examined how research affects design with our dramaturgs. They sat in on technical rehearsals and visited Geva's shops to explore the build process. In 2015, Geva partnered with Rush-Henrietta High School for "The Stage Door Project: Little Shop of Horrors," in 2016 with School of the Arts for To Kill a Mockingbird, and in 2017 with McQuaid Jesuit for Private Lives. For Geva Theatre Center and its professionals, it is an opportunity to share the wonder and creativity of students. The theatre acknowledges their roles as theatre stewards by interacting with this younger company and thanks them for the privilege of learning with them and from them.