Patchogue Theatre Presents THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

The not-for-profit Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts is pleased to announce the cast and creative for the next production in its Live Edition educational initiative. The Diary of Anne Frank, a stage adaptation of the book,The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank will be presented to students Wednesday, March 11 thru Friday, March 13 at 10am and to the public on Friday, March 13 at 8pm and Saturday, March 14 at 2pm and 8pm. Purchase online, by phone or at the box office. For more information, visit PatchogueTheatre.org, call the Patchogue Theatre Box Office at 631-207-1313, or stop by 71 East Main Street, Patchogue, NY.

Directed by Joe Minutillo and adapted by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, the play explores the true story of a young Jewish girl who kept a diary of her time hiding from the Nazis in an attic of her father's office during World War II. The cast of characters includes:

Allie DeMatteo as ANNE Alyssa Marino as MARGOT Matthew Conlon as MR FRANK Carolann DiPirro as MRS FRANK Keith Cornelius as MR VAN DAAN Lisa Meckes as MRS VAN DAAN Lukas Varacek as PETER Bob Kaplan as MR DUSSEL Elena Faverio as MEIP James Schultz as MR KRALER

The creative team includes:
Jerilyn Toole as STAGE MANAGER Gary Hygom as SET DESIGNER Jess Moody as LIGHTING DESIGNER Kaileen Langstone as COSTUME DESIGNER Gerlando Volpe as SOUND DESIGNER Mariah Brengel as PROP DESIGNER

Holocaust survivor, Werner Reich, will be a guest speaker at the public performances. Werner and his family were residents of Berlin, Germany when the Nazis came to power in 1933. His father, an electrical and mechanical engineer lost his job thereafter, prompting the family to move to Zagreb, Yugoslavia. His father died in 1940 and in 1941, the Nazis occupied Yugoslavia. Werner's mother placed him in hiding with several families. The last one worked for the resistance movement and Werner helped them in this work. In 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo, beaten up and jailed for 7 weeks and then sent to Theresienstadt and then Auschwitz II where he went through, in one day, three selections by Dr. Mengele. He was one of 89 who were chosen out of 60000 - the others did not survive. He was then sent to Auschwitz I. In January 1945, after a 7 day death march, he ended in Mauthausen, Austria. After liberation in May 1945, he returned to Yugoslavia and after two years he escaped to England where he worked as a laborer and later became a tool and die maker. In 1955 he married a girl who had been saved by Sir Nicholas Winton. They immigrated to the USA where he eventually became an engineer. He has two sons and four grandchildren. Werner is a frequent speaker and founding member of the LI Multi-faith Forum.

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