SLAM FRANK Actor Reveals ‘People Have Walked Out’ of Controversial Off-Broadway Musical

The new musical Slam Frank, which reimagines Anne Frank’s profound and heartbreaking story through an Afro-Latin hip-hop lens, is already making a splash Off-Broadway. 

The production, which began preview performances earlier this month ahead of its official October 4 opening at the Orpheum Theatre, has been met with mixed responses. 

“I know that there are people who do get offended,” actor Olivia Bernábe, who stars as Anne, told The Guardian in an article published Saturday, September 26.  

“There have been a couple of times where people have walked out; I don’t know if they forget that it’s satire, or it could be that everyone has a different threshold for it,” Bernábe added. “We are teasing, but not actually making fun of the identity. What the show plays with is the idea of your identity equaling your ethics, because that’s just not true.”  

Previews of Andrew Fox and Joel Sinensky’s new musical began September 17, following its developmental run at the Asylum NYC comedy club. 

The concept for Slam Frank was born out of a 2022 viral post on X that asked, “Did Anne Frank ever acknowledge her white privilege?” While some have praised the musical for its bold take, it has also been met with online discourse and backlash. 

Fox — who is credited with the music, lyrics and concept of the show — told The Guardian that, in creating the show, the point was never to convey “a specific viewpoint or message.” 

“We committed pretty early to making something that, anytime we feel like we’re making one point and it’s starting to feel like a lecture, we swing in another direction,” he said. “It lets us focus on making the piece as effective as possible at getting reactions, getting laughs, getting shock.”   

Sinensky, who wrote the book for the musical, pointed to the back and forth on Reddit, adding: “That, to me, is one of the best indicators that we succeeded — that people can see it and love it or get angry for different reasons.”  

In October 2025, former New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley praised the show on X, writing, “Taking on the state of the nation and the state of the theater, the already notorious little musical ‘Slam Frank’ may be the most important new show around. It rides one sacred cow to skewer a herd of others, ranging wildly and widely through the land mines of identity politics.” 

Directed by Sam LaFrage with choreography by Esosa Oviasu and music direction by Alex Harrington, performances of Slam Frank are currently scheduled through November 30, 2026, at the Orpheum Theatre (126 2nd Avenue). 

“I get really excited by something that makes me feel like art is back,” said director LaFrage. “Like, we can do plays that make people uncomfortable, and say the things that have been left unsaid because we’ve been worried about getting canceled, you know?”