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Curtain Rising on Anne Frank, the Musical

Creator compares teen's life to tragic opera

By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 7, 2008 10:25 AM CST
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(Newser) – A first-of-its-kind musical adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank will take the stage in Madrid next month, the Guardian reports. The Spanish-language play gained the approval of the Anne Frank Foundation, which closely guards the rights to the story of the doomed Jewish teenager; a spokesman says the work "respects the message of tolerance, within the tragedy, that we want to keep alive."

The foundation wasn't receptive at first, the director of the adaptation says, but he brought the decision-makers around with his commitment "to understand the story better." Case members recently visited Amsterdam to see the tiny space where Frank hid for 2 years. "I think it's very special, and a very important detail, to come to this house," says the 13-year-old lead actress.

A cast of Spanish actors is seen in Anne Frank's room at Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Anne Frank's diary, has been rewritten for plays, movies and TV dramas. The 22-person cast visited the Anne Frank Museum where the Jewish teenager hid from the Nazis,...
A cast of Spanish actors is seen in Anne Frank's room at Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Anne Frank's diary, has been rewritten for plays, movies and TV dramas. The 22-person...   (Associated Press)
13-year-old Isabella Castillo, who plays the part of Anne, poses in front of Anne Frank's chestnut tree in the garden of Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Anne Frank's diary, has been rewritten for plays, movies and TV dramas. A 22-person cast of Spanish actors visited...
13-year-old Isabella Castillo, who plays the part of Anne, poses in front of Anne Frank's chestnut tree in the garden of Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Anne Frank's...   (Associated Press)
13-year-old Isabella Castillo, who plays the part of Anne, stands in front of a secret passage way to the annex at Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Anne Frank's diary, has been rewritten for plays, movies and TV dramas. A 22-person cast of Spanish actors visited...
13-year-old Isabella Castillo, who plays the part of Anne, stands in front of a secret passage way to the annex at Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Anne Frank's diary,...   (Associated Press)
In this image released by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday June 25, 2007, the Frank family is seen posing for a photographer in a spa in Germany in 1901. Otto Frank, Anne Frank's father is seen on the front row wearing a sailor's outfit.
In this image released by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday June 25, 2007, the Frank family is seen posing for a photographer in a spa in Germany in 1901. Otto Frank, Anne Frank's...   (Associated Press)
Anne Frank
Anne Frank   (Archive Photos)
13-year-old Isabella Castillo, who plays the part of Anne, sits in the office of Otto Frank, Anne's father, where she wrotes her diary at Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Anne Frank's diary, has been rewritten for plays, movies and TV dramas. A 22-person cast of...
13-year-old Isabella Castillo, who plays the part of Anne, sits in the office of Otto Frank, Anne's father, where she wrotes her diary at Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 4, 2008....   (Associated Press)
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theater • Spain • Holocaust • history • Madrid • musical • Anne Frank • Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl • Anne Frank Foundation

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